


Eye Of The Storm

by CommanderFuzzy



Category: Pacific Rim (2013), The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Sex, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Jaegers, Kaiju, Marshall Lexa, Mechanic Anya, Ranger Aden and Tris, Ranger Cadet Clarke, Ranger Indra and Gustus, Ranger Octavia and Lincoln, Slow Burn, Sort of tumblr prompt, bit of fun, mechanic raven, super slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 02:58:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7249294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderFuzzy/pseuds/CommanderFuzzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke Griffin is a fresh Ranger Academy graduate, all she wants is to be the next best Ranger and make her mark in the world, and of course pilot a Jaeger. But the memory of her Father and her reluctance of her mother stands in the way.<br/>Marshall Lexa Woods just wants to protect the world and convince the Council that the Anti-Kaiju wall is a bad idea compared to the Jaeger programme.<br/>What neither of them expect was one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, this is an Au I've had in my mind for a while. Its just abit of fun, really, for a movie I love and two cute little fools we all love.

**One**

  
  
“Abby is going to skin me alive,” Raven Reyes had been muttering those seven words, over and over, for the last hour of their chopper ride. Each time the mechanic said them, the tone became more scared. Not that Clarke couldn't blame her, her mother was not a force to be reckoned with. Once Abby Griffin was angry, she was angry. But Clarke was used to it. She'd been used to it since she first enrolled into the Rangers Academy. Four years later and Clarke was used to the clipped tone in every phone call she got from her mother. And she was going to get it in person when they finally reached their destination.   
  
But Raven wasn't. Abby had always been fond of Raven, so much so that Reyes had become Clarke's adoptive sister when they were fifteen. And now it was six years later and things hadn't changed. They'd both enrolled into Ranger Academy, Raven into the Jaeger Tech, and Clarke as a Ranger Cadet, they'd both graduated and now they neared their destination.   
  
The Polis Shatterdome.   
  
One of the last standing Shatterdome to be functional. Set right into the Anti-Kaiju wall that protected the eastern coast. The Shatterdome of the legendary Heda Jaeger. Clarke didn't know if she more excited to see that famous Jaeger or just be inside the Shatterdome.   
  
“Seriously, when she skin's me, make sure she doesn't touch my face,” Raven muttered again, shifting in her seat next to Clarke. The blonde rolled her eyes and gazed out the chopper window. The lands below them where misty and almost unrecognisable, Kaiju damage was littered everywhere. While the world was still trying to pick itself up in the brief time between attacks, they were heading right into the eye of the storm. To protect and serve. Or be skinned alive. Whichever came first.   
  
“Ray, you're gonna be fine. I'm pretty sure the Marshall won't let the chief medic kill the beat damn mechanic as soon as we get there,” Clarke teased, settling back against the cushioned seat. She was going to enjoy the rest of the ride, it would probably be the last time they had cushioned seats. Shatterdome were infamous for being cold and cramped. With very little cushioned seats. But Clarke Griffin knew she was ready. So, so ready.   
  
“We’ll see,” Raven muttered, gripping the straps of her duffle bag tightly.   
  
“You okay there techie? Looking a little green around the edges,” one of the other inhabitants asked across the travel compartment of the chopper, he spoke clear and confident into the microphone attached to the helicopter headphones. Both Raven and Clarke looked to him, their eyes narrowed. He was wide shouldered, yet slim, with floppy dark hair and an easy grin. His clothing was exactly the same as Clarke and Raven's, military green jumpsuit. Only his came with an almost excessive amount of patches down his right arm. He was a Ranger, a combat Ranger.   
  
“I'm a mechanic, not a techie,” Raven grumbled in the small microphone, her knuckles white on the bag strap. Clarke's blue eyes darted from her sister's hand to the grinning guy. Raven's discomfort in the helicopter was getting more apparent as the air vehicle shuddered in the air, jolted about by the oncoming sea air. The Ocean had been so unsettled since the second rift opened, the almost constant threat of tsunami and earthquakes filling the airwaves daily. Everything was going the south side of good.   
  
“Well, sorry, my bad. I'm Bellamy, by the way, Bellamy Blake. And this is my baby sister, Octavia,” the floppy haired guy introduced himself, while giving the slip of a girl besides him a nudge in the ribs. The girl had been asleep most of the chopped ride, her forehead pressed to the small window besides her, helicopter helmet rested in her lap, her straight hazel hair covering her features. As her brother nudged her, Octavia had jolted awake, revealing her young face. Clarke knew them then, they were both Combat Rangers, for a different Jaeger, even though they were siblings. Clarke had been under the impression that siblings were the best bet for Drift Compatibility, but the Blakes had somehow been an exception.   
  
Bellamy Blake was a couple years older than his sister, he'd been one of the very few Rangers to pilot solo back when the first rift opened. When the Marshall’s and the Jaeger programme board members realised that solo piloting was doing more bad than good, they shut that down and put all the work they could into the Drift. Bellamy Blake had helped set that up. Helped created the tests and programmes to assess a person's mind, to see who they could be drift compatible with. As far as Clarke could recall, Bellamy Blake hadn't been inside a Jaeger for years.   
  
But his sister, Octavia Blake, was one of the youngest Rangers to live. She co-piloted the Trikru, a Mark 4 digital Jaeger, with her partner, Lincoln Lake. Trikru was fast, deadly and top of the line. The complete opposite of the infamous Heda Jaeger, which was a Mark 3 nuclear reactor beast. Old, tough and almost indestructible. In Clarke's opinion, the Mark 3 Jaeger would always be more dominant to any other. But the Trikru machine had nearly ten Kaiju kills to date.   
  
“We there yet?” Octavia grumbled, rubbing her eyes slightly. She barely made eye contact with anyone in the compartment.   
  
“No kiddo. I was just making introductions to our companions here,” Bellman laughed as his sister grumbled, her grass green eyes darting over Clarke and Raven, “So you're fresh out of the Academy huh? Off to your first Shatterdome?” Blake kept up with his questions, even as his sister turned her attention back to her window, and Raven looked anywhere but at him. Clarke took it upon herself to hold Bellamy's gaze, stare him down if she could,   
  
“The only Shatterdome we want to be at,” The blonde shot back quickly, grinning wide,   
  
“Heh, confident. You know who's ‘Dome it is right? You know she eats cadets like you for breakfast “ Bellamy laughed, 

  
“ETA 10 minutes Rangers,” the pilot's voice rang out through their chunky headphones. Bellamy grinned wide,   
  
“This is when it gets real bumpy!” Bellamy laughed as the chopper began to swoop about. Besides Clarke Raven gasped and gripped the edge of her sweat and bag strap tighter than before. Even Clarke felt her stomach roll. But Octavia Blake still pressed her forehead to her window, breathing even and steady. Bellamy laughed and grinned, which only infuriated Clarke more,   
  
“The Marshall hasn't met a Cadet like me before!” the blonde shot back, her tone confident and determined. Bellamy stopped laughing and grinned wide,   
  
“We’ll see!”   


  


* * *

 

 

  
“The new recruits are inbound, five minutes but caught in brief turbulence Marshall,” Marshall Lexa Woods nodded and folded her arms tightly behind her back. She didn't know the techies name, and didn't bother learning it, he gave her the information about the inbounds to the 'dome and that's all she needed.   
  
Two new recruits and the Blakes, just what she didn't want nor need. The council had decided their arrival, not her. Much to Lexa's annoyance. Too much of late had the council been making her decisions for her. The Polis Shatterdome was working just fine with what Jaeger they had, they didn't need another one.   
  
The three working Jaegers they had were defending the wall and city that lay behind it just fine. Though Lexa suspected that bringing in the Mark 4 Jaeger, Trikru, was to bench her own, Heda. The council hadn't been fond of her continuing to be a Ranger after she ascended to the Marshall command. They believed that once you became a Marshall, you gave order instead of followed them.   
  
As Lexa moved to the huge window that surveyed the interior of the ‘dome, she scanned over the four present Jaegers. From the new addition of Trikru, to the bulky black form of Pauna, a Mark 2. Then there was Natblinda, a small and deadly Mark 5, and finally there was her own pride and joy. The last standing Mark 3, nuclear powered, might Heda. Seeing her own mecha craft made Lexa's lips twitch slightly at the corners, the only signs of a smile anyone would get.   
  
“Commander?” a familiar, curt voice came from behind Lexa, pulling her to turn and face the weathered face of her once fellow Ranger, Indra,   
  
“Ranger, it's Marshall now, remember?” the younger woman replied, her face straight. Indra inclined her head slightly, her dark eyes briefly flashing with apologies,   
  
“Marshall, the chopper has landed and doctor Griffin is outside to greet them. She seems rather upset by the new cadets,”   
  
“Why would that be?” Lexa questioned as she began to move out of the command deck and towards the elevators. She couldn't have the chief medic losing her head over a couple of fresh cadets.   
  
“I believe one of them is her daughter.”   


 

* * *

 

  
  
“What the hell are you doing Clarke? What has possessed you?” Abby Griffin roared at her daughter as the blonde Cadet exited the chopper, followed closely by Raven,   
  
“Hi to you too Mom,” Clarke muttered with a roll of her eyes. She slung her duffel over her back and strode forward confidently, her head held high, “Not even gonna ask why Raven is here? Or does she get a free pass?”   
  
“Don't drag me into this!” Raven muttered in a low tone, her eyes on the floor as Abby reached them. Her doctor's coat billowed around her in the harsh wind, her hands on her hips and face set like stone. Abby was clearly calculating how to punish her two daughters,   
  
“No. You're both fools, why come to Polis? Why now?”   
  
“Well, mom, there is thing call graduating the Academy, and applying to be a Ranger at a Shatterdome. And oh, it looks like we got picked for here!” Clarke shot back angrily, her eyes narrowing,   
  
“You're a fool. A Ranger? You're still on this foolhardy dream to get yourself killed in action! What would your father say!” Abby argued back.   
  
“I would imagine he'd be all for it, since he was a Ranger too!”   
  
“Um, guys, I think you should stop -”   
  
“Raven, I'll get to you,” Abby cut Raven off with a quick look, causing the Latino girl to gulp. Her hazel eyes flicked down to the toes of her polished black boots and then up again to meet the approaching emerald greens of the Marshall.   
  
“Your father sacrificed his life so you could live yours! Not go and follow in his footsteps! He wanted you to live!” Abby argued, her arms waving erratically as she spoke. Raven shifted from foot to foot, feeling awkward in the situation between mother and daughter. Clarke only argued back that her father, Jake, would have praised her and supported her decision to join the Ranger Cadets. But Abby was having none of it. The two Griffin women continued to argue as Marshall Woods reached them. Raven admire the Marshall as she stood and waited patiently for the Griffins to notice her.   
  
Raven knew that Lexa Woods had become the youngest Ranger Marshall after she solo piloted her own Jaeger, Heda, back to the Shatterdome. Like most Jaeger pilots, Lexa Woods was a bit of a celebrity. Every pilot gained fame and fortune, a following that made them rock stars in the world. Not many liked it though, who would want fame for killing a godzilla like creature?   
  
Lexa had gained most of her fame from taking down a class 3 and 4 Kaiju with her co-pilot in Heda. They'd hit over fifteen kills in under five years. A record that even Jake Griffin couldn't beat. Ranger Lexa Woods was who every Ranger Cadet wanted to be. Tragedy had struck though when she and her co-pilot, Costia Green had been on a mission to tackle two class 4 Kaiju, and they had been winning. Raven remembered listening to the radio report as it happened. She remembered the sickly silence as the commentator informed the listeners that Ranger Costia Green had been torn from the Jaegers control pod. That Ranger Lexa Woods was now solo in there, putting her body and brain under tremendous stress to protect her people, her country.

  
In the end Lexa had won the battle, dragging the carcass of one Kaiju back to base to be studied. Rumours had been told that she'd promoted to Marshall right away, others said it was to bench her from any more battles. That her own recklessness had killed Costia. But Raven didn't believe that, no-one who purposefully went out there to die would solo pilot their Jaeger back home. Not when the outcome would be internal and external damage that they'd carry for life.   
  
Marshall Woods cleared her throat then, just as Raven began to wonder what scars her body carried. Her eyes scanned up the Marshall, over the pressed, neat navy suit, with its Marshall insignia sewn over the right lapel, along with four golden stars. Lexa's hair was pulled back into tight braids down the sides of her head, keeping her emerald green vision clean and crisp. Her face was all angles and sharp beauty, one that was currently frowning hard,   
  
“Doctor Griffin, do I need to give you leave for stress?” Raven held back a snigger. The Marshall’s tone was so curt, yet hung with sarcasm. Abby Griffin snapped around so fast that her white jacket slapped against her own daughter. Clarke grumbled and glared, her face wrinkling,

  
“Marshall! I'm – um –“

  
“Doctor Griffin was our welcome wagon Marshall Woods, she was just acquainting herself with the new Cadets,” Bellamy Blake stepped in, his easy grin still there and right hand outstretched, “I'm Ranger Bellamy Blake, on order from Chancellors Jaha and Kane,”

  
“Hmm. I was expecting you. And your sister, but you two –“ Lexa ignored Bellamy's hand, opting to turn on her feet to face Raven and Clarke, her emerald eyes scanning their green jumpsuit clad forms. Clarke felt her breath catch as Marshall Woods eyes found her own. They were ridiculously breathtaking, just like the rest of her, clad in that pressed suit and stern expression. The young Cadet stared as she tried to stop her mouth from falling open.

 

Marshall Woods was _hot_!

  
“Ranger Cadet Clarke Griffin and Jaeger Tech Mechanic Raven Reyes, Reporting for duty Marshall,” Raven barked quickly, her military issued heels clicking together loud enough to wake Clarke from her daze. The Ranger Cadet straightened herself, jaw jutting, back straight and chest puffed out as Marshall Woods looked them over,

  
“Cadet Griffin? Your daughter I assume Doctor?” Woods spoke softly, yet Clarke could hear the authority on her tone. She also hear her mother grumble and clear her throat before speaking.

  
“Yes, Marshall, I was just in the process of sending her home before you arrived,” Abby's tone was still dripping in anger as she spoke, Clarke could feel the elder woman's eyes burning into her skin,

  
“I don't think there's any need for that now. Do you Marshall? The 'Dome always needs fresh Cadets, besides she might be of use eventually,” Bellamy voice cut through the conversation, like a soft breeze. Clarke couldn't help but let her lips twitch a little.

  
“Hmm. I shall speak to the Council, for now, head inside, get warm and assigned a bunk. Reyes, find Anya Woods, she'll be your CO,” for a moment the two cadets didn't move, too scared or too shocked, “Dismissed!” Marshall Woods barked and the two were gone, diving into the Shatterdome with Abby glaring after them,

  
“I'm sure I can take Cadet Griffin under my wing, show her a thing or two Marshall,” Bellamy Blake continued, eyeing the retreating form of the blonde.

  
“I know why you’re here Blake, I know it's not to show pretty Cadets around. You're intentions are not welcome here, and I will be speaking to the Council and chancellors about your relocation here. Immediately,” Lexa snapped, more angrily then she meant to. Bellamy eyed her, his brow knitting tightly as they stared one another down,

  
“Um, sorry to interrupt, but my papers actually say I'm supposed to be here and they are signed by you Marshall, so can I just go find my Jaeger?” Lexa rounded her green eyes to meet ones that were only slightly paler than her own. The girl who spoke, in a soft yet questionable tone, stared back at her, her long hair flowing in the wind. Bellamy's sister, the second pilot to Trikru,

  
“A pleasure. Ranger Blake, Ranger Lake is waiting inside for you, he has been eager for your arrival,” Lexa held out her hand and Octavia took it warmly, eyeing her brother as the shook quickly.

  
“Pleasure is all mine Marshall, you’re a legend,” Octavia dropped Lexa's hand, grinning wide, “You’re the reason I joined up,” Octavia pale eyes flicked to her brother quickly and Lexa easily picked up the teasing tone the younger Blake sibling had. Clearly the two had some rivalry between them. Bellamy stiffened and sniffed hard, turning his now dark expression to Lexa,

  
“I believe we have a phone call to make Marshall.”   


 

* * *

 

 

  
“Well that went better than expected,” Raven muttered low, a groan on her lips. Clarke groaned and elbowed her adoptive sister sharply on the ribs,   
  
“Yeah, so much better,” Clarke grumbled, leaning back against the steel bar on the wall. They were the only two inhabitants in the elevator heading down into the belly of the Shatterdome. To the landing floor. Clarke could feel the buzz of excitement coursing through her as the lift groaned and shuddered with each metre downwards.   
  
“At least the Marshall sent us inside, else I think Abby might have throttled you,”   
  
“Maybe it was the googoo eyes you gave the Marshall?” Clarke laughed, teasing her sibling. Raven's cheeks flushed a deep red as she kicked out at the blonde.   
  
“You can talk. Drooling where you stood,” the Latino tried to defend herself, but Clarke only shrugged and smirked,   
  
“Well, no-one said that Marshall Lexa Woods was hot. I expected some gnarly old woman, twisted and scarred up, the way the Academy talked about her,” Clarke reasoned, sighing low, “But damn. She's like, hotter then Heda's nuclear core!” Raven scoffed at that and the lift shudder to a heavy halt. Clarke held her breath as the door groaned open, revealing their destination.   
  
Polis Shatterdome was everything Clarke had expected and wanted.   
  
Deep underground and ocean, the Shatterdome was tall and wide enough to accommodate 200 plus Military personnel and four hulking Jaegers, the tallest standing at 80 meters high. That being the mighty Heda, Commander of all Jaegers within Polis. Above Clarke's head walkways criss crossed, the clanging of boots against metal grating filling her ears constantly. She could hear shouting, music, laughter and machinery at work. The 'Dome was full of life, ready to protect and serve. As the blonde Cadet strode forward, taking it all in, her cerulean blue eyes found the alcoves where the Jaegers slept.   
  
Clarke could see the old Mark 3 titan as she and Raven stepped forward, it's towering body staring down at them as it lay in slumber. Only the head of Heda was viewable behind a wall of steel, closing it off from everyone else. But Clarke knew the specs, she knew every mission Heda had run, every weapon she had carried, every kill and every loss. Her heart felt heavy to see such a magnificent Jaeger locked away.   
  
To the left was the small, black and deadly Natblinda, her crew dotted about the flat metal feet, playing the loudest trash metal Clarke had ever seen. The Jaeger seemed to fit in just right with the tone, his arms outstretched as the Natblinda pit crew worked furiously to strap new bladed weaponry to its appendages, Clarke eyed what looked to be a 30 foot long chainsaw like sword as the pit crew slid it along the underside of Natblinda's left arm underside.   
  
To Heda's right lay the mossy green Trikru, splashed with browns and greys, perfect camouflage. That was Octavia's Blake's Jaeger, and Clarke could see why. The machine was built in a slim way, making it small and skinny, agile and fast. She could see why Trikru had amassed so many kills, it's easy, fluid movements made it hard to catch, plus the backpack of heat seeking missiles and reinforces 'knuckles', made it perfect for close combat.   
  
Then came Pauna, a beefy old as hell Mark 1 Jaeger. The last of its kind. Built nearly 15 years ago, it's conn-pod was set into its chest for better protection, surrounded by layers upon layers of metal and hydronics. Pauna had four thick arms and a body of compartments that hid nuclear weaponry. An utter war machine.   
  
“Really something huh?” Clarke's eyes snapped down from the Jaegers to meet steel greys. The woman they belonged to was grinning wide, lighting up her angular face completely, “I could stand here and stare at them all day. But the boss has radioed down and told me I've got fresh blood. Which one of you is Reyes?” the woman asked, Raven waved her hand awkwardly in the air as Clarke took her in. The woman was lithe and muscled, tattoos winding down her muscular arms, she wore an oil stained white vest that clung to her body tightly, and dark blue combat trousers tucked into the same styled boot she and Raven wore,   
  
“Well, nice to meet you. I'm Anya Woods, chief Mechanic of the ‘Dome. Marshall has give me permission to put you two to work, so let's get started,” Anya clapped her hands together quickly, grinning impossibly wide,   
  
“What's first?” Raven asked, her dark eyes darting from Jaeger to Jaeger. Anya laughed and stepped between the two of them, slinging an arm around each of their shoulders. She pulled their heads close together, still smiling. Clarke counted six heart beats before Anya spoke,   
  
“The most important thing,” again Clarke counted six beats, before Anya laughed quickly, slapping their shoulders,   
  
“Food!”   



	2. Chapter 2

**Two**   


  
Abby had hoped by the third week of being within the Polis Shatterdome that her daughter would have gotten bored by now. She hoped that Clarke would have seen the error of her ways and decided to transfer to an inner-city military base. Help with towns devastated by over populations and lack of medical care. But Abby's hopes had yet to be fulfilled.   
  
Ranger Cadet Clarke Griffin stayed stubbornly within the ‘Dome, learning each name of the Jaeger’s pit crews, the young blonde jumped from Jaeger to Jaeger, trying to find a purpose within the Shatterdome. But Abby watched as Clarke soon realised that Marshall Woods had been right, they'd didn't need any more Ranger Cadets. They had three full, working Jaeger crews, the only need for Clarke's presence was to wait in line incase one of the Rangers became unfit to pilot. And even then, it was a slim chance that Clarke would be drift compatible with any of the remaining Rangers.   
  
At that moment in time, Abby was surveying the main floor of the ‘dome, watching Clarke playing basketball with Aden and Tris who piloted Natblinda. The two Rangers were working in complete harmony, winning the game with ease. Clarke was playing with Anya, the chief Mechanic for the Shatterdome, but it was still a match they couldn't win. Aden and Tris were drift compatible, a strong bond that no-one could truly fathom. Their brains worked as one, the longer they spent in the Drift together with the Jaeger, the stronger the bond became. Abby had studied the phenomenon for years, trying to truly understand how it worked.   
  
The basic public knowledge was that the two Jaeger pilots locked onto one brain wave that matched and together rode the Drift on that. But through Abby's extensive research she discovered it was more then that. Once within the Drift, for the first time the Rangers would find that similar brain wave, that familiar emotion and memory that they both shared. From there, each time they drifted, the wave became stronger, branching out into other waves and stems till they were almost completely wired the same. Almost like a telepathic link. It truly was a medical marvel. That formed just one emotion. Anger, happiness, sadness, could spawn a compatible Drift link between two separate people.   
  
And it scared Abby that maybe, just maybe, Clarke would find that drift link someday. Like Jake had done. Abby was scared that Clarke would become a Ranger. A greater Ranger than her father and that she'd lose her too.   
  
“Doctor Griffin,” the familiar curt tone of Marshall Woods cut through Abby's thoughts, drawing the doctor to meet the steady green gaze, “Is everything okay?” Lexa asked, stepping up besides Abby on the walkway, her ever bright eyes filled with a questioning stare. Abby nodded and sighed,   
  
“Yes. Of course Marshall, just surveying the land,”   
  
“And your daughter, I'm sorry she's here Doctor Griffin. When I spoke to the Council, they insisted all new Cadets stay in their assigned Shatterdomes. They were very clear on that,” Lexa sighed softly as she spoke, reaching out to grasp the metal railing, leaning against it, as she too watched the ‘dome floor below.   
  
“Bellamy Blake is here as your replacement isn't he?” Abby asked, eyeing the young Marshall. For a moment Lexa didn't speak, then she nodded, eyes clenched shut,   
  
“Chancellor Jaha believes that it's time for my retirement. That I've served our country enough. All he really wants is the last Marshall that supports the Jaegers gone, I'm a thorn in his side,”   
  
“The wall won't hold without the Jaegers, doesn't Jaha see that?” Abby protested, turning her back from the main floor, leaning her back against the railing,   
  
“The votes been put in place. The population and council have voted in favour of the wall, the other ‘domes are shutting down. We are the last,” Lexa pushed up then, standing tall, her hands pressing down the front of her navy suit, “These four are the last Jaegers working.”   
  
“Jaha will see, he'll realise what he's done,” Abby tried to reassure the Marshall, reaching out to grasp the younger woman's shoulder. Lexa just nodded and turned, heading back towards the main control room,   
  
“It's the end of an era, you and your daughter will be far from here soon,” Lexa murmured over her shoulder as she disappeared inside.   


 

* * *

  


  
“Come on, pay up, you lost Griffin,” Aden laughed, holding his palm out flat as Tris dribbled the basketball besides him. The two Rangers grinned wide at Clarke as she grumbled,   
  
“Best 3 out of 5?” the blonde tried her luck, knowing it would get nowhere. She'd never beat the two pilots. It was a foolhardy move even challenging them to a match, but she was bored and Raven was off following Anya's orders somewhere,   
  
“No chance. You'll only lose again. Pay up.” Aden insisted, wiggling his fingers. With a roll of her eyes and the commentary of Anya laughing behind her, Clarke rooted out her dessert ration cards and dropped three into the blonde boy's hand. Aden cheered in triumph, tucking the cards into a front pocket of his overalls, “Come back anytime you want a rematch,” the pilots teased, turning on his heels and heading back to Natblinda with Tris.   
  
Clarke grumbled and turned, meeting Anya's ever grinning expression. The chief Mechanic had only joined in the game when she saw Clarke losing by herself. Not that she'd been much use, Raven would have been a better partner. But Clarke's adoptive sister had disappeared into the closed off area by Heda several hours ago. And she hadn't been seen since. Infact since they arrived at Polis three weeks ago, Clarke had hardly seen her sister. Except for meals and sleep, they'd been apart.   
  
“When does Raven get off?” Clarke asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as she could, but Anya saw right through it. As she always seemed to.   
  
“Late one tonight, she's fitting new hydraulics and cooler systems,” Anya explained as the two fell into step, heading towards the food court.   
  
“Why do you even have her working on Heda? I thought she was decommissioned?”   
  
“Practise, for when one of the others needs repairs,” Anya explained, taking the lead as they headed into one of the offshoot tunnels from the main floor. The Shatterdome was build much like an underground bunker, thick steel and iron walls, built to withstand penetration and radiation. But it was also a labyrinth of winding tunnels and walkways, one wrong turn and you could be anywhere. As Clarke had discovered, fourth day in.   
  
She'd been looking for the food court and had ended up outside the Marshall’s private quarters. Much to Clarke's embarrassment when she became a peeping tom to Marshall Lexa's extreme workout session. For what seemed like an eternity, Clarke had stood and watched Lexa Woods run through a series of pull up, push up, squats and sit ups. Her muscled body shimmering with sweat in her tiny shorts and sports bra. Clarke also managed to get a good look of what scars a malfunctioning Drive Suit would leave behind.   
  
Not that the thin scars marred Lexa's lithe body, infact they added to it if anything. Spirals and straight lines, mixed in with perfect circles scared down the Marshall spine and right shoulder blade, twisting around her right arm in what could have been mistaken as a tribal like tattoo, if it had been black. Clarke had always expected drive suit scars to be horrific, but Marshall Woods had the most beautiful ones Clarke could imagine.   
  
The artist inside Clarke wanted to paint the scars with a fine, thin paint brush, make them stand out against the Marshall’s tanned skin. She wanted to trace them with her fingertips, learn the lines and curves. Know them intimately. And the thought sort of scared Clarke a little. Not as much as facing down a class four Kaiju scared her, but enough to make her nervous around the Marshall.   
  
Of course Marshall Woods had no idea that Clarke had seen her working out, in next to no clothing. So they're first confrontation afterwards had been an awkward affair for Clarke. She and Raven had been called to the Marshall office, along with Clarke's mother. They'd stood straight and proud infront of the Marshall as Lexa told them that they'd been assigned to the Polis Dome and were staying there for the foreseeable future, by orders of the council. Much to Abby Griffins disappointment, and Clarke's joy. But even her mother grumbles of annoyance couldn't stop Clarke from imagining Marshall Lexa in her workout gear as she gave the Cadet orders.   
  
Clarke wasn't sure what the feeling was, or how to handle it. Especially when the images of Lexa crept into her mind in the dead of the night, while she was tucked in her bunk. The blonde wasn't ashamed to admit that on more than one occasion she had delt with her frustrating arousal while her adoptive sister slept soundly in the same room. But she knew she'd have to find another outlet before she started making more than heavy panting noises.   
  
Even now, as Clarke and Anya finally arrived at the food court, Clarke was jubilant at her assignment to the Polis Shatterdome. And the sneaky peak she'd gotten of the rigid Marshall. But it was more of the energy that the ‘done had. The feeling of being apart of something bigger than herself, something good and whole. It had started to fill the hole in her chest.   
  
As always the food court was alive with a steady flow of noise and people. The Shatterdome itself was home to hundreds of military and scientific workers, and even a few of the men and women who repaired the Anti-Kaiju wall. They all milled about, laughing, shouting and singing, like there wasn't a threat of gigantic monsters ever looming over head. As Clarke and Anya made their way down the main walkway to the line of food carts, the blonde spotted her sister finally.   
  
Raven waved eagerly, beckoning them over to her table. She sat with Octavia Blake and her co-pilot, a steadily silent built man with the neatest mohawk Clarke had ever laid eyes on. Lincoln Lake was a quiet soul who you'd never imagine would be a Ranger with a high kill count. Much like Clarke, he enjoyed the fine art of sketching, disappearing into his almost always present note book whenever Clarke saw him around. The blonde Cadet had never seen inside the battered book, but she had a funny feeling it was mostly filled with Octavia. There was a rumour running around the Shatterdome that he and his copilot where more than just drift compatible.   
  
There were others at Raven's table, a few faces Clarke didn't know. So as she sat down, with a tray laden with food, but lacking a dessert, Clarke was uneasy with the unfamiliar faces,   
  
“Clarke! Oh man, I feel like I haven't seen you for ages,” Raven laughed, grinning,   
  
“That would be because you haven’t,” Clarke grumbled, picking at her still warm bread roll.   
  
“Secret missions you know?” Raven laughed, kicking Clarke under the table, “We've got downtime now. Wanna hang out? Monty scavenged an old boom box and fixed it up,” Raven reasoned, and Clarke sighed. Since Raven became her sister, she found it hard to deny the Latino her smile. Raven grinned wide, her eyes filled with a mischievous light. Besides her, a young looking Asian boy, who Clarke gathered was Monty, clicked said boom box to life. Instantly the food court was filled with music, an old 90's R&B song that Clarke was vaguely familiar with.   
  
“It's going down, fade to Blackstreet. The homies got RB, collab' creations, bump like acne, no doubt. I put it down, never slouch, as long as my credit can vouch, a dog couldn't catch me straight up,” the man rapped from the music box, causing men from other tables to cheer and begin to sing along.   
  
“I'm Monty Green, Loccent Control, Raven said you’re a Ranger Cadet,” the dark haired boy spoke softly under the music, smiling at Clarke, “How many sims have you done?” he continued. Clarke gave a small shrug, Kaiju battle simulations where a necessity at the Academy, and Clarke had spent a lot of her time running through them.   
  
“About 30, all full combat. All full kills,” Clarke shrugged, picking at her bread again. The music continued to flow around them as Monty barked with laughter,   
  
“Raven said you had, but I didn't believe her. Have you done any full combat drops? Who's your Drift partner?” Monty asked, his tone excited as he practically bounced on his seat.   
  
“Um, none. I haven't been Drift tested, my mom, I mean Doctor Griffin refuses to do a psych analysis for me,” Clarke grumbled, looking anywhere but Raven's new found friends. The newly present information had perched the pilots of Trikru interest. And within ten minutes Octavia Blake, Lincoln and Monty were all giving Clarke bits and pieces of advice on how to pass Psych Analysis and the Kwoon Combat Room. Clarke had spent some time in the Academy's dojo, learning the basics for every known Jaeger Pilots fighting style. But she'd yet to venture into the Polis Kwoon. It had a notorious reputation for Marshall Woods stepping in to challenge any new recruits.   
  
Soon the conversation managed to shift from Clarke to the topic of 90's music and Monty had retrieved his battered looking Holo-screen to search out old songs that the young Cadets knew. It hadn't taken Raven too long to figure out how to hook the Holo-screen and boom box together and proceed to play Eminem loudly throughout the food court.   
  
Anya joined them soon after Destiny's Child kicked in, singing loudly along to “Bills, bills, bills”. Once the chief Mechanic started, it threw a chain of events into play. The food court had emptied out, other than a few younger faces, including Aden and Tris, giving the military personnel left a chance to sound out requested songs and start an impromptu karaoke session. As Raven took center stage on the table, her lungs straining out to hit the high notes of a song by Adele, (Clarke only knew who she was because her mother had listened to her incessantly after her father died,) the occupants of the food court cheered and whooped,   
  
“Your turn Griffin!” Raven laughed as she dropped back down into her seat, Clarke simply laughed, spooning the last of her dessert into her mouth. She'd managed to bride Raven just enough to get back a dessert card to replace one she'd lost to Aden earlier. It might have cost her two weeks of doing their laundry, but the toffee flavoured pudding was worth it,   
  
“Yeah, go on Griffin!” Aden grinned wide as he joined in. Again Clarke shook her head, feeling her cheeks tinge pink as the rest of the men and women joined in,   
  
“Monty, Monty find, Um, that weird band! They're really old! Come on Clarke what were they called?” Raven whined, pouting hard at the blonde. Clarke simply shook her head, letting her blonde hair fall over her features to hid her face, “Don't be a killjoy! Come on, singggg!”   
  
“Not happening Reyes!” Clarke shot back, pushing to her feet, her intention to leave and head back to the bunk,   
  
“They did that one song, ‘Jump'?, come on Monty, find it before she leaves!” Raven urged on the LOCCET controller, as his nimble fingers began to type along the Holo-screen quickly. Clarke realized then that Monty was most likely going to find that certain Van Halen song before she could escape the food court. She was done for, especially when the first few bars of her favourite Halen song began to play. Clarke tried not to waver in her walk away from the table, but the music was too much.   
  
“Oh here it comes again, that funny feelin again winding me up inside, everytime we touch. Hey I don't know, just tell me where to begin cause I never ever felt so much!” Sammy Hagar crooned through the speakers and Clarke stopped.

 _Damn it Raven_ , the blonde thought as she realised that her adoptive sibling had known all along how to draw a song from Clarke. But the blonde hesitated, pondering for a moment of she could make a break for the door before the chorus began. But she knew she couldn't, as Raven tried to sing. Clarke spun around and launched herself onto the closest table.   
  
'it's got what it takes, so tell me why can't this be love? Straight from my heart oh tell me why can't this be love? I tell myself, hey only fools rush in and only time will tell if we stand the test of time! All I know you've got to run to win an I'll be damned if I'll get hung up on the line,” Clarke bellowed the words, eyes closed as the music flowed around her. The whoops and cheers of her fellow comrades echoing around the food court.   
  
And then they weren't.   
  
Clarke slowly and carefully opened her eyes and found the stern glare of Marshall Woods on her,   
  
“Ah shit,” the young blonde muttered, lowering herself from her table stage,   
  
“Ah shit indeed Cadet Griffin. I don't think the food court is an appropriate place to showing off your karaoke skills,” Marshall Woods crooked one eyebrow as she stepped away from the boom box, which her hand had been resting on. Clarke watched as the Marshall crossed her arms behind her back, her emerald eyes scanning the other inhabitants of the room, “Maybe you should all be returning to your sectors now? I believe Cadet Griffin and I need to have some words,”   
  
Clarke tried to catch Raven's eye as she and the others quickly exited the court. Her sister only stopped briefly to mouth a 'sorry' before Anya ushered her away. Leaving Clarke with the ever stern looking Marshall,   
  
“It was just a laugh. Letting off steam, no harm done,” Clarke shrugged, trying to reason with a possible Van Halen, fun loving side of the emerald eyed Marshall. Lexa said nothing, she instead, began to slowly approach the blonde,   
  
“There are plenty of regulation ways to let off steam Cadet Griffin. I think you should be looking into the Kwoon dojo, rather than killing Sammy Hagar in front of half the LOCCET control staff,” Lexa Woods kept her tone even and clear even though deep inside she was howling with laughter. The doctor's daughter was a show boater, and a glorious singer. It wasn't often that Lexa came across someone else who knew of Van Halen. But Lexa knew she had to keep her Marshall mask firmly in place. Especially as Clarke Griffin began to go pink in the face. Lexa hadn't realised how cute the Cadet was until then.   
  
No, she told herself, Marshalls don't find Cadets attractive, Lexa scolded herself as she stood rigid again,   
  
“I expect to see you in the Koown Dojo at 0600 hours tomorrow.” Lexa watched the blonde nod shallowly, her eyes downcast. Internally Clarke was screaming. This was all Raven _fucking_ Reyes fault. Raven fucking Reyes got her to jump on the table and sing her favourite damn song and now she had dojo training. Which was most likely to be hours, upon hours of reciting the same moves, “Get some Sleep Cadet, I'll see you bright and early,” Marshall Woods continued, drawing Clarke to snap her eyes upwards,   
  
“Koown? With you?”   
  
“Yes. With me. Now, you are dismissed Cadet.”   



	3. Chapter 3

**Three**

  
  
“I still do not see your reasoning behind this decision Chancellor's, it seems to be you're putting too much weight on a wall that is already breaking,” Lexa put as much force behind her words without shouting. It wouldn't do any good to lose her temper in front of the council of five Chancellors, they were already baying for her blood. Or retirement, whichever came first,  
  
“Marshall Woods we have been through this a hundred times. The Anti-Kaiju wall is a secure way to protect the people. Look the footage of Pauna and Trikru, destroying several villages in their plight against the Kaiju. They do more damage than good,” Chancellor Jaha replied, his image slightly distorted on the screen before Lexa. She sighed and bit the inside of her cheek, she couldn't deny that factor when it was right there on a separate screen,  
  
“But the Rangers Academy provides rebuilding support, and medical for these people. More towns and villages have been rebuilt then destroyed,” Lexa reasoned, keeping her gaze steady, her back straight. The faces on the screen before her flickered for moment, then Jaha was back against, in all the crispness the modern day technology could provide. Much to Lexa's annoyance. The older man always looked down on her so sternly, like he was better than her. But Lexa knew that Chancellor Jaha had never seen one day, never mind an hour of combat against the Kaiju. He knew nothing when it came to the Rangers or the plight against the inhuman monsters they fought.  
  
“This is not enough of a reason to keep the Jaeger program open Marshall. Your funding is running out,”  
  
“Is this why Ranger Blake is suddenly present in my Shatterdome? To watch me? See where your dollars are going?” Lexa snapped, her anger boiling,  
  
“It's the taxpayers dollars and as you are well aware, the communities do not have the money to fund you anymore. The damage rate is too high. You have six months, if that, left to close down and retire your Rangers Marshall,” Chancellor Jaha ended quite abruptly, his dark lips pursed together and eyes darker with annoyance. Lexa grunted and nodded, cutting the screens off. For a moment she didn't move, simply stared at the blank screens, trying to regulate her breathing.  
  
“Well, that went well,” Bellamy Blake's infuriating tone cut through the silence. Lexa's anger was still running high as she turned on her heel to face the young man,  
  
“I have nothing to say to you, or to them Ranger, you are nothing more than Jaha’s lap dog,” the Marshall spat as she began to stride past the gentleman. Bellamy barked with laughter, which only made Lexa want to compare him more to a pet dog,  
  
“I'm not here for what you think I am Marshall, Lexa, there is more going on with the council then they'd let on,”  
  
“Ranger Blake, you will address me as Marshall Woods, and only when I feel like talking to you. Now I am late for an appointment, feel free to call your masters back,” Lexa didn't even stop when she spoke, she steamed ahead, out of the communications room and through the metal corridors to her private rooms. Even though she knew that Bellamy hadn't followed her, the young Marshall still felt the need to slam her heavy metal door to her quarters close behind her.  
  
The slamming and screech of metal against metal made Lexa feel slightly better. The enraged scream she gave after made it even more so. Slowly, the Marshall drew in five shallow breaths, her eyes closed as she calmed herself. It would do no good to get worked up, she tried to think, but it was too late. Marshall Woods was already doubling over in a coughing fit, her palms and fingers flecked with the dark, almost black, blood she coughed up.  
  
With a groan of pain, Lexa found her way towards the closest seat, her favourite armchairs in the nearly empty living quarters, easing down into it as she tugged the handkerchief free from her suit jacket pocket. She dabbed at her mouth and nose swabbing up the dark blood and cursing herself silently. The radiation poisoning wasn't as bad as it could be, but it wasn't all together wonderful.  
  
Lexa had known the dangers of piloting a Jaeger before she got into her Heda, but still she did it. It was right before they figured out that solo piloting was hazardous to a Ranger's health. And that a double drift would be so much better. Lexa had completed five solo runs before the nosebleeds and migraines had started. That was when her blood started to only tinge black, now it was almost completely that colour.  
  
When they started to perfect the double drift, and Costia had come into Lexa's life the strain had eased on her body and mind. It became easier, simple to skip into the Drift with her co-pilot. Until that damn Kaiju double event. The first one in their recorded history. Two class four Kaiju had emerged from the Azgeda rift, throwing tidal waves and mini-quacks along the coast, stomping their way toward land. Which just happened to be the area of the coast which had the most fishing towns, and Costia's home town.  
  
Within minutes of the Kaiju breaking free of their interdimensional rift, the closest Shatterdome, Floukru, had been alerted. At the time that had been Lexa and Costia's headquarters, so they had been the first on scene. Wading through the Ocean swell to meet their quarry in all out brutal combat.  
  
Lexa could still hear the sonic waves of Heda's plasma cannon and the crush of the Kaiju skeleton as they broke its skull. It was comforting to Lexa, the knowledge that they, she and Costia, had at least killed one of the beasts together. But the second one, the second Kaiju was one of rumours and mystery. They'd all heard of the N.I.A but no living Ranger had returned from a confrontation with it.  
  
Lexa remembered first laying eyes on the creature, a class five, the first of its kind, towering over Heda at 50 foot tall and at least 30 foot across. It's head looked like it was taken right from a hammerhead shark, but with a lot more bone and those eerie lines that glew bright blue. The main bulk of its body was stripped with blacks and white, a slim midsection, armoured with an exterior rib cage, four thick arms and a back set of legs that solidly planted it to the seabed below. The tail, one this that most Kaiju had in common, long and spiked with five foot daggers, whipped back and forth through the surf, throwing wave after wave at Heda, crashing against the Jaegers body hard enough to shake the Conn-pod.  
  
But what Lexa remember the most was its eyes. Those milky white eyes which at first made the Marshall think this Kaiju maybe blind, but soon after N.I.A had scanned the mechanical creation before it, Lexa knew it was far from blind. The Kaiju had slammed forward, it's lower arms locking around Heda's waist, holding it in place as it's tail wrapped around the head. The tail spikes dug into Heda's exterior, puncturing all sorts of vital instruments, cutting off oxygen and life support to the Conn-pod.  
  
Costia had panicked first, unleashing round after round of the plasma cannon until it smoked badly and fired dry. Costia was gone, her mind running wild into the Drift. Lexa had screamed for her to come back, to not chase the rabbit, to calm down and breath but it was too late. Flashes of the Kaiju stomping through the city. Destroying everything Costia had ever loved, images of her parents, buried beneath layers upon layers of rubble and metal, crushed to death before Costia's nine year old eyes. Her friends, her family, everything gone and lost in a moment.  
  
Lexa had felt the sadness and despair deep in her own brain, her own emotions, just enough to distract her from the N.I.A before her. Just enough for the beast's tail to tear away part of the Conn-pod. The part that had been most important and precision to Lexa.  
  
The Marshall shook her head, rubbing at her temples as her own screams of pain echoed around her memory.

 _The past was the past,_ Lexa reminded herself, there was nothing she could do then. But now, now was a different story. They'd learnt so much about the Kaiju, fitted their Jaegers with better tech, better armour. And there was no damn way the Council was going to stop her from completing her mission. Never again, Lexa had promised, to the gaping hole in Heda's Conn-pod that night, Never again would a Ranger die under her watch.

 

* * *

 

  
“ _Fuck_ ! Damn it Raven! That was the last of the hot water!” Clarke growler angrily from their tiny, shared bathroom. The blonde Cadet had been happily showering, humming along to nothing, when the hot water switched to freezing, mid-way through soaping her hair. Raven had been in the cubicle shower before her, a good 20 minutes of soaping and washing which had killed their daily share of hot water.  
  
Angrily, Clarke wrapped herself in the off white towel, sliding open the partition door to find their bunk empty. Raven had skipped out, knowing full well that she'd taken the majority of the water. With a frustrated mini-scream Clarke returned to the shower to wash the suds out with cold water. It wasn't like she'd never showered in cold water before, during Ranger training the cadets had been submerged in icy water tanks to make them grow accustomed to what being stranded in the ocean would be like, but it was still damn annoying. Especially since Raven never used to take this much care and time to shower.  
  
As Clarke ducked back into the cubicle, her mind wandered to her adoptive sister. Why was the mechanic taking extra time and water? Why was she always dipping out at odd hours without explanation? Coming back to the bunk long after the work bell signalling the end of their day sounded. Clarke didn't know, but she was damn sure she'd find out.  
  
Once soap free, the Cadet set about drying and dressing, reaching for her usual blue and grey fatigues. The colours had changed from her old greens and browns once they'd been fully enrolled within the Shatterdome. They wore Naval colours, wince water was their battleground now. Clarke slipped on her usual black underwear, followed by the battered black vest that had long since found its use by date. Printed, in faded block capital's, across the back, read “ **GRIFFIN** ”. Anyone who knew Clarke well enough, knew the old, ripped and hole filled vest had belonged to her father and was the only tiny scrap of him she had left.  
  
So the Cadet wore it, most days, under her pressed and washed uniform. A reminder of why she was going to be a Ranger, why she was at the ‘Dome and why her mother was always so angry. Slipping her shirt over the vest, Clarke set about buttoning it slowly, her mind set on the day ahead. A sharp, quick knock to the thick steel door of the bunk drew the blonde from her wandering mind.  
  
“Cadet Griffin? Clarke? It's Bellamy Blake, Ranger Blake,” came the curt voice from the other side. Clarke rolled her eyes as she did up the last button. Ranger Blake had been hounding her every step since they arrived at the Shatterdome. Whether it be asking her about her Academy training or reasoning for being at the ‘dome, Bellamy was always questioning. _Why, why, why_. It was beginning to get irritating. But Clarke knew she could snap at him, like she would have done to any other occupant at the Shatterdome, but he outranked her, by a whole shit load,  
  
“Marshall Woods has sent me to collect you,”  
  
“ _Fuck_ ,” Clarke cussed again, in less than an hour. She'd completely forgotten about that damn Marshal and her stupid punishment.

  
“Cadet?” Bellamy’s voice came again through the door, followed by three sharp knocks, Clarke grumbled to herself, rolling her eyes as she tugged open the heavy door. Ranger Bellamy Blake stood the other side, fist raised to knock again, his own freshly pressed uniform looking stiff and out of place in the dark tube like corridor of the Shatterdome underbelly.

  
“I take it you're my escort Ranger Blake? Does the Marshall really think I’m going to ship out on her orders?” Clarke huffed, stepping through the doorway and around Bellamy. His dark eyes watched, wide and bright,

  
“Actually I volunteered.”

* * *

 

  
The Kwoon Combat Room was one that everyone in the Polis Shatterdome was familiar with. Not one person, Ranger, Cadet, mechanic or otherwise, hadn’t spent some time within its dojo walls. Some never left, spending hours upon hours within the training dojo, perfecting their fighting stance and skill to an unbelievable level.

  
Clarke had spent her fair share of time on the raised platform set into center of the Dojo, practising with many of the weapons that lined the wall and even close hand to hand combat with the Kwoon master, Ranger Titus. A tall, bald, strict man who never cracked a smile. Clarke wasn't even sure Titus knew how to smile. She often saw the bald man prowling the edge of the Dojo, dressed in his finest black gi, his hands folded behind his back, dark eyes narrowed as he watched any occupants who trained mercilessly within the hot dojo.

  
Today was no different from another day, the Kwoon master stood in a far corner, eyes scanning the crowd that had gathered in the early morning to witness their commanding Marshall in action. As Bellamy led Clarke into the combat room, the blonde felt an unfamiliar flutter of nerves. At the Academy she’d been one of top students of the Kwoon Combat Room, skilled in any weapon they provided. Yet not the one weapon that the Kwoon had been designed for originally.

When the Jaeger programme went from having one ranger pilot to two, the council had to figure a way to find compatible Drift partners. And thus the Kwoon dojo was born. A theory was thought up that of two Rangers of a similar fighting and thinking style, were pitted against one another that their brainwaves would fall into sync, even without the Drift. And yet Clarke had yet to experience that. And she doubted she would with the stiff backed Marshall.

  
Said Marshall who stood in the center of the Kwoon fighting platform, dressed much like she had done when Clarke had seen her working out. A pure white tank top that clung to her lithe, muscled body like a second skin. Her pants were loose and black and her feet bare. Clarke’s breath caught as she watched Lexa’s arm muscles flex as she rose her arm, a sword grasped in her hand. No. Not a sword, Clarke realised, a fencing sabre. An old school Kwoon weapon.

  
_Well, shit._ Clarke thought as Marshall Woods turned her unnatural emerald eyes onto her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do apologise for the delay on this chapter! Been pretty hectic in RL at the moment!

* * *

  
  
Raven snapped back her welding mask as she clicked off the torch, dropping back onto her butt to admire her own handy work. The mechanic grinned as she eyed the last bit of welding she'd performed, her masterpiece was coming together quite nicely. Drawing the back of her hand across her forehead, Raven didn't care for even a second as grease, oil and sweat merged together on her skin.   
  
“Looks good, a little uneven, but good,” came the light voice of Raven's superior, Anya, the chief Mechanic. The young brunette whipped her head around to meet Anya's steel grey eyes and easy grin,   
  
“It's fucking perfect and you know it,” Raven quipped back, grinning wide. Anya smirked and shrugged, advancing on the foot of the Jaeger that Raven sat before. Her worn, calloused hands ran across the freshly welded sheet of armoured steel, feeling the residual heat, the heartbeat of the machine. Anya grinned wider, laughing internally at her own personal idea of the Jaegers.   
  
The chief Mechanic always believed, deep down, that the hulking great machines had souls, personality beneath their armoured layers. That their running cores, be it nuclear or electrical where more than just a power source. It was life,no matter which way you looked at it. Anya knew every Jaeger had a personality, even if they didn't outwardly speak.

  
Natblinda was playful and young, much like his pilots. The Jaeger was swift and eager to impress his peers in every aspect. Whereas Pauna was old, grumpy, battle worn and experienced, like every war veteran Anya had ever met. But she was a hulking steady force, constant and unbeatable. Trikru was almost as eager as Natblinda, the young adult of the group of Jaegers, she had proven her battle worth and was ready to keep going and going. But Anya's favourite, by far, was the Jaeger she'd worked on since the beginning.   
  
Heda.   
  
The old, battered and almost half destroyed hunter was by far the closest thing to family that the the floor chief had. Not that the Marshall wasn't a good family member, bur since Floukru Lexa had been cold and distant.Heda had always been there for Anya through all the tough days, right from the beginning when she was just a baby mechanic working her way up from the bottom. Heda was Anya's masterpiece and now, as she instructed Raven Reyes on how they were going to make the beauty even better, Anya couldn't help but feel her chest swell with pride. Especially when only she and her cousin, the Marshall, we're fully aware of the backup plan.   
  
“So what do you recon?” the brunettes soft voice cut through Anya's thoughts, drawing her eyes back to Raven's form on the floor. Anya couldn't stop her eyes wandering over the younger mechanic, in her oil and grease stained overalls and white vest, her tanned muscled arms smeared with engine oil and black dots up and down her arms were the welded steel had jumped up and against her skin. And the way her hazel hair was tugged into a messy bun at the top of her head, hidden only slightly by the welding mask. Anya was a sucker for girls covered in hard work and engine oil.   
  
“I recon you need work on your welding skills,” the blonde teased, cocking an eyebrow at Raven. Reyes scoffed and rolled her dark eyes, pushing up to her feet awkwardly. Anya let herself eye the mechanics left leg for a moment, her ears picking up the sounds of metal grinding against metal. It was no secret that Raven Reyes had a bum leg, but it wasn't common knowledge that said bum leg was infact mechanical. Anya only knew that Raven was partially cyborg because she'd read the fresh out of the Academy mechanics file.   
  
“You know it's the best damn work you've seen in this pit,” Reyes muttered confidently, running a single finger against a welding line as she came closer to Anya's, her leg stiff. Raven refused to let the disability harbour her work, or even admit that she had a disability. Raven was always told she'd never walk again, after she lost her limb, but after a lot of hard work and experimental Jaeger Tech shrunk down to human size, she'd had two kegs once more. Raven even swore she couldn't tell the difference between flesh and blood to the cyborg addition to her body.   
  
“Sounds like you need some tuning up,” Anya muttered, her eyes flicking back to Raven's leg,   
  
“Probably, but anyway, why so much work here? Heda's been decommissioned, I thought she was only here to like, inspire the other Jaegers,” Raven shrugged, brushing over Anya's concern. The chief Mechanic sighed and removed her hand From the Jaegers foot, leaning her back against it as she folded her arms,   
  
“Maybe, maybe not. Marshall recons there's a storm coming and we need all our soldiers ready to rock ‘n roll,”   
  
“And this beauty would lead the offence right?” Raven laughed, slapping her hand flat against the Jaegers leg,   
  
“Over the others? Obviously. I'd put all my money on Heda being our saviour anyway,”   
  
“But, you know, Jaegers tend to need Rangers to work,” Raven muttered as she shrugged, moving her body to mirror the elder woman's. Anya made a small noise, one that could have been nonchalant if Raven hadn't picked up some of the other woman mannerisms and quirks over the last few weeks, “You know more then your telling,”   
  
“Maybe, maybe not,” Anya shrugged, her face still alight with the easy grin. It made Raven frown hard as she tried to work out what was going on in her fellow mechanics head. Anya was an enigma, to Raven at least, all she knew about her chief was what she had learnt through rumours. Which was mostly that Anya built Heda from scratch, had oil for blood, the Marshall was her cousin, always managed to get special treatment in the food court. Usual bulletin in Raven's opinion. Anya was just like the rest of them, she'd lost someone, Raven could see it in the way the woman shrugged or smiled, the way she used the gestures as armour. But knowing these things wasn't going get what Raven wanted out of Anya.   
  
“Come on! There's gotta be a bigger reason that just nostalgia to why you've got me fitting this bad girl with new tech!” Raven scoffed, slapping her hand heavily against the Jaegers foot. Anya watched with narrowed eyes, his hands barely twitching as Raven slapped the freshly welded armour, “Come on, just a titbit, the tiniest clue of what's actually going on. Heda decommissioned, what's the point in fixing in a new reactor?”   
  
“The Marshall never decommissioned Heda. She's still fully functional and ready for battle.” 

 

* * *

 

 

  
“The Marshall is old school, original Jaeger training. You've gotta watch her down swing and jabs,” Octavia Blake whispered quietly to Clarke as she held up a padded chest protector. Clarke shook her head, glancing over the female Rangers shoulder to eye the Marshall. Lexa still stood in the middle of the Dojo mat, swishing her damn sabre from side to side. Like an old school musketeer or something.   
  
“I don't want it. She's not wearing armour, I won't,” Clarke grunted, his fingers flexing around the hilt of her own matching sabre. She'd had a brief training model with the fencing style of Kwoon simulations, but it had been expensive. Clarke had mostly stuck to the Bo staff and hand to hand combat. But of course, the one person to challenge her within the Kwoon would be a sucker for old school fighting techniques. Clarke took in a breath, forcing her mind into focus. Her cerulean eyes fixed onto Marshall Woods and her confident manner of swishing about the sabre,   
  
“She won't be fooled into think cockiness is confidence Griffin,” Octavia muttered softly, clasping a hand firmly on Clark's shoulder. The blonde nodded shortly before pushing forward, her palms sweaty against the sabre hilt.   
  
“You understand the rules Cadet?” Marshall Woods spoke strong and clear, moving her stance to stand before Clarke as she entered the Dojo matt. Her toes flexed against the surface, her fingers gripped her weapon, yet Lexa's eyes remained steady. Clarke tried to steel herself that way, to keep her eyes on the prize, but she couldn't help but eye the scars that littered the Marshalls right arm, or the way the vest clung to her clearly defined stomach. Clarke took a shuddering breath before she spoke,   
  
“5 point system, the first with the most points out of the five wins,” Clarke replied, stiffly. The Marshall nodded, a quick smirk flashing towards the Cadet,   
  
“I've read your file, a lot of Maui Thai and kickboxing, not a lot of weaponry combat. Almost disappointing,” the Marshall mused, flipping her sabre up to her face, Clarke mirrored her motion. The Dojo fell silent around them,   
  
“Not all Jaegers fight with weaponry,” Clarke shot back as their swords fell to their sides. One of them would have to lunge first, one of them had to take the offensive. Clarke felt the lump start to form.in her throat as Lexa's body twitched, the blondes skin tingled as her instincts took over. The Marshalls fencing sabre came forward, a quick lunge towards Clarke's chest.   
  
The blonde didn't move fast enough, the blunted ball end of the sword poked her chest quickly, before withdrawing back to the Marshal's aide,   
  
“one point,” Lexa stated, her feet moving quickly as she side stepped the flunge Clarke gave, the blonde hit the mat on her knees, feinting to the left as Lexa's blade slides through the air. Clarke moved quickly, parrying against the Marshalls quick attacks, the only noise in the Kwoon coming from their breathless grunts and clang of metal.   
  
For a while this happened, metal clashing against metal, blades sliding down one another till Lexa got her second shot in. A quick underway to Clarke's stomach, just hard enough that the blonde knew she'd have a perfectly circular blade.   
  
“Stop hesitating. Feel it, flow with it, don't think, just feel,” the Marshall commented as she bounced back to her starting position once more. Clarke let out a low grunt of frustration before following suit. The Marshall waited, patiently. Watching with keen eyes as the Cadet took in a deep breath, silencing the internal crash of anger. Lexa didn't even seen her move, but she was sure she felt it. Like a flurry of a whirlwind, Clarke twirled, stepped and lunged just as fast as Lexa was, the blunt end of the sabre sliding through the bottom of Lexa's vest. The crowd gasped as one, a collective sound that bounced off every wall till the two fighters blinked again.   
  
“2 to 1,” Clarke muttered, her sky blues locked onto Lexa's emerald green. The Marshall straightened herself, her face set as they began to parry. A series of ducking, dodging and weaving followed, each woman's sabre just missing their target every time. Clarke cursed herself every time Lexa blocked a lunge or stab, just as Lexa growled low each time Clarke brushed past her. Soon it became a dance, their body actually moving as one as the moves became familiar and barely thought about.   
  
Clarke's sabre poked against Lexa's left shoulder once, bringing their score to a draw. By now they were panting and sweating, their clothing stuck to their bodies like a second skin. Clarke was too distracted by knowing what Lexa's next move was going to be to even notice how the Marshalls white vest was practically sculpted to her abs.

  
Something in the blonde cadets brain had clicked during the dance. Something unnatural that Clarke had only read about before. They were drifting, well a close to drifting as they could outside the Conn-pod of a Jaeger. Even now, as they continued to move on the matt, their body’s barely brushing by one another, they weren’t even going for the winning hit, just matching one another's steps, bocking strikes, moving gracefully. Clarke had never felt so at ease in a long time. Their breathing fell onto sync, everything else was zoned out, it was just her and the Marshall. Just her and Lexa.   
The blaring siren of the Kaiju emergency alert system rang out through the Kwoon dojo, stopping the two fighters. Lexa was the first to drop her sabre, striding past Clarke with her face set in determination,

  
“Rangers to the Drive Room, Titus with me to the LOCCET. Doctor Griffin, a word?” the Marshall changed right before Clarke’s eyes as she turned and watched the strong, scarred woman across the room. She was mopping up her face with a tel that the bald man held out as Clarke’s mother spoke to her in hushed words. For a moment, Clarke’s mother’s eyes found her daughter, under a deep frown. As the room began to empty put around Clarke, the crowds parting and following the Rangers as they headed towards the Drive rooms to get suited for battle. Clarke knew most of the staff around her would head to the food court or the main 'dome floor to each the enviable battle between Jaeger and kaiju on the big screens. But Clarke hesitated, watching as Marshall Woods gave her one last glance before exiting the Kwoon.   


 

* * *

 

 

  
“Talk to me Mr Green, I want categories, stats and locations,” Lexa strode into the LOCCET, Titus at her heels as the young Asian who been with Cadet Griffin dusing the table dancing incident began to tap furiously at his Holo-screen. The images that were suddenly produced, big and detail were exactly what Lexa had asked for.

  
“Double event, two category four. They breaches ten minutes ago. All three Jaegers are being carried to the miracle mile now Sir, M'am….Marshall,” Monty Green stammered as Lexa loomed at his shoulder. She scanned the screens quickly, eyeing the details before her,

  
“Patch me through to the Rangers,” the young LMC worked quickly, the screen before them splitting in half to now show bother Kaiju and Jaeger stats. Lexa pushed up to stand tall as she grabbed the comm-link from Monty's desk,

  
“Rangers, this is your Marshall. You're facing a double event, two category four’s. Natblinda I want you to hold the mile, be the last man standing if need be. Pauna and Trikru, take those bustard down before they reach any civilized land,” the comm-link crackled with static before a voice came through, echoing around the LOCCET.

  
“Copy that Marshall,” Aden from Natblinda replied first, followed quickly by the voices of Octavia and then Indra, all confirming their orders. Lexa nodded to herself, confident that her Rangers would defeat the threat and defend the civilians once more. And maybe, just maybe, sway the council to her way of thinking.

  
“A double event huh? That’s a pretty big thing, I guess the whole world will be watching our Rangers today?” Bellamy Blake's smug voice came into the LOCCET then, making Lexa cringe before she turned to face him,

  
“A civilian approved KEAS will currently be being broadcast, informing the citizens behind the wall to find their nearest Kaiju bunker,” Lexa replied, her tone short and clipped as the suited man store towards her. His dark eyes scanned Monty’s work station, taking in all the information before them, before his eyes found Lexa again,

  
“But why Marshall? Why would they need to find a kaiju bunker if your Jaegers are going to defeat them in the field?”

  


* * *

 

  
  
“Come with me,” Abby Griffin snapped, she had an almost angry tone as she grabbed her daughters elbow, steering her away from the crowds spilling out of the Shatterdome floor,

  
“Mom! I want to see the footage!” Clarke grumbled, feeling horribly like a teenager once more as her mother dragged her away from everyone else. Abby frog marched her daughter for what seemed like an eternity of winding corridors till they reached the infirmary. Abby’s station and home,

  
“I don’t agree with this, not one bit. This is ridiculous, out of line!” Abby Griffin grumbled to herself as she pushed into the medical bay, the fluorescent lights flickering on in her wake. Clarke followed in silence, still confused to why she had been dragged away from seeing the battle unfold.

  
All three Jaegers had been deployed to face the foe. All three battle hardened and ready metal soldiers, brimming to burst with weapons Clarke had only read about. She'd seen plenty of old footage of Jaegers in battles, locked against a kaiju twice it’s size, but to see a live show of monster against machine would have been a pinnacle point for the Cadet. Instead her mother was directing her to an examining table while she pulled out screens and electrode patches from drawers,

  
“Mom, what’s going on?” Clarke quizzed as she stopped next to the pale blue, probably freezing cold, table. Abby’s shoulders sagged as the older Griffin woman sighed, turning slowly to face her daughter,

  
“Marshall Woods has requested that you undergo a Psych Analysis. She wants your stats, your files and your compatibility all recorded and checked. She wants your Ranger ready within a matter of days Clarke.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMC - LOCCET mission controller 
> 
> KEAS - Kaiju Emergency Alert System 
> 
> I did look into the Kwoon training extensivly while writing this and fencing is a style of training, just like how Raleigh and Mako use Bo staff. Its real, and fitting since our Lexa is a master swords man....woman....
> 
> As always, I truly appreciate your comments, bookmarks and kudos they keep me going and writing! 
> 
> Find me at commander-fuzzy-wolf.tumblr.com


	5. Chapter 5

“A whole section of the wall was destroyed in the last 24 hour, the majority of it by your Jaegers. Natblinda I believe?” Jaha’s voice was like a knife through Lexa's thoughts, one that cut deep and hard. It took everything she had to yet again, not snap at the badly lit Holo-screen version of the council member,

 

“That is correct Chancellor Jaha. The class four Kaiju, codename Magma, set Natblinda alight with projectile flames and pushed did back into the wall,” Bellamy replied before Lexa could even open her mouth,

 

“Again, your Jaegers are causing more damage then the monsters,” Jaha continued. Lexa's hands balled into fists, her nails digging hard into her palms,

 

“The Rangers barely made it out with their lives and they still managed to exterminate Magma before it reached the city. Aden had a broken collarbone and several cracked ribs from this,” Lexa snapped, her fists slamming against the table before her. The nine faces of the council all turned to her. Eyes dark and face shadowed,

 

“And he will be commended, the Jaeger programme is done Marshall. That section of the wall would still be standing of Natblinda hadn't destroyed it,” Jaha continued, “This is the last time your Jaegers will march Marshall. Decommission your Mechs and Rangers,” with his last words and a murmur of agreement through the council, the Holo-screens flickered and went blank, leaving Lexa and Bellamy stood side by side in silence,

 

“This is bullshit, and you know it Blake,” Lexa growled low, staring darkly at the screen before them,

 

“I assume you have some sort of plan to combat their orders Marshall?” Bellamy asked, his tone as always light and airy. For a moment Lexa repeated his words on her head, slowly turning to face the floppy haired man who's been sent to decommission her just like the Jaegers,

 

“What exactly are you proposing Mr Blake?” Lexa tried to keep her tone level as their eyes met. Bellamy had a certain. Sort of glint behind his dark eyes that Lexa had only ever seen in her cousin's eyes before. A plan, a risky plan that everything could reply on.

 

* * *

 

 

Clarke never got to see the footage of the three Jaegers verse the two category four's but Raven had given her a pretty good low down as they sat on one of the metal walkways of the ‘dome. They were a few hundred feet up, legs dangling over the edge as Raven gazed longingly at Heda. The old Mark 3 sat silent, staring back at them with a steady black gaze from its huge head,

 

“So Natblinda is out of action?” Clarke asked, her gaze dropping to the small Jaeger who sat besides Heda. He was clawed, signed and missing it's whole left arm. Clarke had heard what had happened to Natblinda, how the Kaiju has projectile vomited flame onto the Mech's chest, lighting him up instantly. Inside the Conn-pod the Rangers had to think quick, Clarke had heard that it had been Tris who disconnected first, trying to put out the flames inside the Conn-pod, while Aden held both sides of the Jaeger. That's when Magma, the category four had pushed Natblinda back into the wall and tore it's arm clean off. Leaving Tris with a severe concussion and Aden with a broken collar bone and possible nerve damage. _Probably a shot load of Drive Suit scars too,_ Clarke thought as she stared at the damaged Jaeger.it mad ever think of the Marshall and her prominent scars and her father, whoa body had been littered from head to foot woth them when they'd laid him to rest. Raven huffed low, resting her chin on the rail before her,

 

“Yup. And there's a rumor that the rest will be soon. They'll just be relics in a museum soon,” Raven muttered sadly. Clarke sighed and returned her gaze to Heda.

 _What would be the point in the whole Psych Analysis if she'd never get to be a Ranger now?_ The Cadet thought glumly, knowing full well that her face had twisted into a scowl. _It would all be a waste._

She'd heard the rumors spilling from the LOCCET hours earlier. That Chancellor Jaha and his council were closing down the Jaeger programme in favour of the wall. That it was all the Jaegers fault that the damn wall kept crumbling. It was like the council, hidden deep in the heart of the country, had never seen a Kaiju smash through the steel and cement like it was nothing but paper. Like they hadn't even stepped up to fight the foe that threatened humanity's survival.

 

“Why don't you ask your girlfriend is if true or not?” Clarke grumbled, instantly regretting her words. She was angry at the situation, not at her sister, but still she aimed it at Raven. Raven who she'd barely seen for months on end, who'd spent all her recent time with the chief Mechanic, Anya.

 

“The hell is that supposed to mean Griffin?” Raven snot back instantly, her dark eyes finding Clarke's blues. For a moment neither of them spoke, just glared at one another,

 

“You know what it means Raven. I barely see you, we're supposed to be in this together and you're just off, off doing your thing and I'm stuck,” Clarke muttered, dropping her gaze from Raven's. The Latino mechanic sighed low, reaching over to pull the blonde into a tight hug,

 

“You're not stuck. You fought the Marshall and nearly won, you finally got your Psych Analysis, you're getting where you want to be!” Raven hugged Clarke right, mussing her blonde tendrils before letting her go and thrusting one of the two bento lunch boxes into her hands, “Now shut it and eat your sashimi,” the mechanic nudged Clarke's shoulder as they set about their lunch, swiped earlier from the food court. Clarke had learnt early on that if you got to the food first, you where more then likely to get the good stuff, if you got there late you were limited to bread and spring rolls. They were pretty lucky to get the bento boxes, usually only the officers got such fancy foods. But a bit of sweet talking from Raven to the head chef, Harper, and they were away,

 

“What are we gonna do?” Clarke asked, between mouthfuls,

 

“About?”

 

“If they shut down the ‘dome. We'll all be out of work and I'm not going to the wall. I'll protest naked before that happens!”

 

“Wouldn't that be a sight to see,” Raven laughed loudly, almost losing her balance on the walkway.

 

“Better than you naked,” Clarke muttered, shoving another slither of sashimi into her mouth as Raven elbowed her hard,

 

“Some people are dying to see me naked!” the dark haired girl protested, her chopsticks darting into Clarke's lunch box to steal some salmon,

 

“Oh you're totally crushing on your Chief!” Clarke laughed hard, doubling over as she wheezed,

 

“Shut it Griffin!”

 

* * *

 

 

“This is crazy Lex, like serious bat shit insane crazy,” Anya muttered as she stared down at the Blue print before her. Lexa grinned across the table, arms crossed over her chest, eyes alight with excitement.

 

“But it could work, right?” Lexa asked, probing the mechanic for answers. Anya sighed and rubbed at her temples slightly. She kicked back in her seat, eyes meeting her cousins. This whole plan had been a long time coming, Anya knew it. Ever since she'd first heard that the council wanted to put more stock into the wall, Anya had been waiting with baited breath for Lexa to come up with some sort of last stand plan. And here it was.

 

“Theoretically, yes, I guess it could,” Anya sighed, pulling the blueprints back towards her. 

 

“Then start building, right away,” Lexa's tone was jubilant and excited, like a kid at Christmas,

 

“You're gonna a need more muscle than just the one Jaeger Marshall. And you've already down the fasted one out of your three,” Bellamy Blake spoke up then, stepping forward towards the blue print table. His wide hands set heavily against the table as he too began to look over the plans, “You're gonna need one Jaeger to carry the payload and the others to protect and defend it. Depending how it's built, it could either be highly sensitive or really fortified, but your gonna need more Jaegers,”

 

“We still have three working ones and I could get ‘Blinda back up and running if Aden gets his shit together,” Anya murmured,

 

“three?” Bellamy questioned, his brows furrowed,

 

“Yes, Blake, three,” Lexa shot back. Anya met her cousins brilliant green eyes, and she too couldn't help but grin along with her Marshall.

 

* * *

 

 

Clarke flattened herself to the metal wall as she continued to eaves drop. She couldn't help it, she was only doing what the summons had called for her to do.

 

**Marshall Woods requests your presence immediately.**

 

She'd been slipped the note by one of the Rangers, the stern dark skinned woman, Indra, who only grunted and frowned when she handed over the note. Clarke had grumbled and sighed once she'd originally read it but now, as she cranked her head around the corner, trying to listen to the conversation about payloads and a top secret plan, Clarke didn't regret not coming.

 

She'd originally figured the Marshall was going to give her a roasting about their match in the Kwoon, but now she had to wonder if it had something to do with her Psych Analysis. Clarke knew that she'd felt something in the fight, when they'd been chest to chest, breathing heavy, lips almost against one another's as the blades of their sabres pressed harshly together. She knew, deep deep down, that she'd felt a something that had to be similar to the Drift.

 

“Thankyou for your time, but now, I have a prior engagement that I'm late for, so if you'd excuse yourselves -”

 

“Of course Marshall, I'll be in touch over the payload,” Bellamy Blake's voice was clear as the scraping of chairs began. Clarke panicked then, they'd finished their meeting and she was hanging around a corner. _Shit._ The Cadet thought as Anya began to speak,

 

“I'll get the crews together, work on this, this contraption, check in with me in 12 hours,” Anya laughed as she spoke, a noise that tinkled through the air. Clarke couldn't even see the woman but she could already tell why Raven liked her so much. Chairs groaned against the concrete floor again and Clarke moved quickly, she darted up the corridor, away from the doorway into the Marshalls private quarters, then turned and began to walk slowly back towards it. They'd never know the difference.

 

As Clarke grew closer to the end of the hall, both Blake and Anya nodded as they passed the blonde Cadet, rolls of blueprints tucked under each of their arms, and this look of secret in their eyes. Clarke couldn't help but frown, trying her damned hardest to piece together the information she'd over heard. _Payloads? Contraptions?_ Something serious was going down.

 

“Cadet Griffin?” the Marshalls smooth tone made the blonde jump, the smallest of squeaker coming from her.

  
“M-marshall Woods! I, I got your summons. I’m here, reporting for…well whatever I guess,” Clarke stood up straight, saluting hard as the Marshalls eyes raked down her body. Clarke felt like she was under complete scrutiny, she had no idea why. She was in the Marshalls doorway and was trying her damned hardest not to remember the last time she’d crossed by this door.  
  
When the Marshall had been sweaty and toned and working out. And now. She was in the crispy dark blue suit that fitted her in all the right ways and made her look way more badass then Bellamy Blake in his matching suit,  
  
“I have the results from your PA. And there are some interesting things in here, in your whole file really Cadet,” Woods commented, beckoning the blonde into the main body of her quarters. Clarke couldn’t help but look around, at the bare walls and single bookcase. To the battered leather couch that sat next to the partition that most likely led into Lexa’s bedroom or bathroom. But now, now Lexa stood besides a meal table, clear of any evidence of what she, Blake and Anya had been discussing. Only Clarke’s files sat upon it,  
  
“I can guarantee anything and everything within that is the truth. Even the fighting,”  
  
“I was unaware that your father was Jake Griffin, he was one of my CO’s while I was a Cadet. Great man, amazing Ranger,” Lexa said softly. Clarke stared, unsure what to say, so she simply nodded, “I suppose your main goal in going to the Academy, other than pissing off your mother, was to do your father proud? Become a Ranger just like him, be better even?” again, Clarke nodded, a lump forming in her throat as Lexa continued to talk, “Well, it looks like you're going to do just that Cadet. As of now, you’re the newest Ranger Griffin.”

“No offense Marshall, and trust me I really appreciate this promotion, but rumor has it the Jaeger programme is closing down?” Clarke finally found her voice, speaking up body as she met those forest Green eyes. Lexa sighed and her shoulders sagged slightly,

“Trust me Ranger, the Jaeger programme is not going anywhere, not as long as I am a Ranger and a Marshall,” Lexa's tone was stubborn strong, just like Clarke’s fathers had been before he went on that last mission. With a nod of agreement, Clarke beamed,

“So, who’s my copilot?”

“Me.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a short one folks, but here you go!!

* * *

 

 

Clarke never expected the Drive Suit to be comfortable. But she was wrong for once. The tailor made Drive Suit was perfect. Sleek and armoured, the suit fit her in every way imaginable and even as she examined herself in the midnight blue suit, Clarke couldn't help but feel badass. She had to wonder if the Marshall’s suit matched her own, but somehow Clarke couldn't see Lexa in blue. Even in the standard issue Marshall suits, Lexa looked out of place. Maybe black, black and red, would suit the seasoned Ranger better. But for now, Clarke was too caught up with examining her own backside.

The training simulator suits at the Academy had been worn and old, hitched in all the wrong places and pinched every where. A standard issue white, emblazoned with the Ranger Corps logo, Clarke had worn them as much as she could, done as many simulations as she could. But none of it had really prepared her for what was to come. Out of the huge window that sat before the new Ranger was Heda. Primed and ready to go, it's central core, her heart, was glowing with fresh power, like the Jaeger was just as ready as Clarke was.

“Will you stop moving!” Raven growled as Clarke twisted her frame again, examining the spinal column that ran up her back. Like lizard spines slotting together, hiding masses of wires that all connect at the base of her neck to her nervous system. Raven was crouched before Clarke, checking that the boots were strapped up accordingly. But it was difficult since the blonde wouldn't stop moving.

“Sorry. Sorry I can't help it. Rae, seriously, I look so badass!”

“You won't when you disconnect from the Conn-pod because your boots aren't fitted properly,” Raven huffed, slapping her hand hard against Clarke's calf. It didn't hurt a much as bare flesh would have, but due to the wires running through it, connecting to her body, Clarke felt it as if the Drive Suit was her own flesh.

“Ow! Damn it Reyes!” Clarke grumbled, shaking her leg off, before standing as still as she could,

“Look you've gotta be fitted properly or the connect won't be true. You and the suit have gotta become one, it is you, you are it. If you don't get that through your thick head you're going to have issues Griffin,”

“It's Ranger Griffin now,” Clarke smirked as she spoke. Even she knew she sounded cocky now. Raven grumbled and slapped her calf again, before pushing upwards. They stood eye to eye, unable to hide either of their grins,

“You might be Ranger Griffin, but you'll always be my little sister Clarke,” Raven’s tone was almost solemn as she spoke, making Clarke a little shocked at the serious sad tone that came from her adoptive sibling. But before she knew it, Raven had pulled her into a tight hug, “Your dad would be proud,” Raven whispered as the clomp sound of another Drive Suit approaching came.

“Ranger, Miss Reyes,” Lexa's curt tone sounded around them, pulling the two girls apart. The sight of the Marshall in her drive suit made Clarke's breath catch. She knew the suits were fitted accurately to a Ranger's body, every contour and limb, but Marshall Woods looked astounding in hers. Like it wasn't just a second skin, but was her own skin. Just as Clarke had predicted, her suit was black, apart from the blood red stripe that went from right shoulder down to her wrist.  Raven coughed awkwardly, hip checking Clarke,

“Good morning Marshall. Ranger Griffin is primed and ready to go,” Raven stated, throwing a wink at Anya who stood behind Lexa. The Marshal nodded and stepped closed to Clarke, the black helmet under her arm glinting as the visor caught the light.

“You are aware this is a simulation, much like the ones at the Academy. But your will be drifting, not with an AI, but with a real person. With me. On paper it says we are compatible, but in real life things are very different Ranger. Are you prepared?” Lexa's tone was steady and confident, her words clear but Clarke couldn't help but stare at her lips as she spoke. Slowly the young Ranger nodded, her eyes flicking up to meet the emerald greens that stared back,

“Yes Marshall,”

“Good, then shall we begin? Anya, inform the LOCCET that we are ready for decent,” Lexa turned back to her Chief Mechanic then, a small smile passed between them both and Clarke realised this was a big deal. For her and for the Marshall. This was probably the first time since Lexa became a Marshall that she was going back into a Jaeger. And not just any Jaeger, her Jaeger. Her Heda.

 _Fuck,_ the blonde thought as Lexa led her towards the head section of the mech. This really was a big deal. Clarke realised she was nervous then, more nervous than she'd ever been before. With a shaking breath, the blonde stepped up the right side of the Conn-pod and let Raven direct her into position. Her feet slotted into what looked to be a spherical gyrosphere, hanging over a great hole that lined up with Heda's nuclear core. Clarke knew there was a 3 foot plane of clear carbon fibre between her and said core, but it was still daunting to be hanging over it.

“You have to remember not to chase the rabbit. Let the Drift flow, become one with it. Let the memories go past you, around you, but do not latch on,” Lexa lectured as Anya strapped her into the left side. Clarke nodded, taking one last shuddering breath before Raven placed her helmet on, a comforting wink shared between them before a blue visor disorientated Clarke's vision.

“Ready to drop Mr Green,” Lexa voice was in Clarke's ear as the only door into the head Conn-pod closed with a groan. Gears began groaning and the head of Heda lurched downwards.

 

* * *

 

 

Lexa couldn't help but feel giddy as Heda’s head locked into place on the rest of the body. It was like riding a bike, slipping the drive suit back on, clicking back into the Conn-pod, it was all muscle memory. Something she couldn't forget. And even with the rookie besides her, whooping and cheering in excitement as the Jaeger came to life around them, Lexa felt so relaxed,

“Marshall, we are ready to begin,” Monty Greens voice. Are through the helmets head set, only a little fuzzy,

“Woohooo! Let's do this shit!” Clarke replied, making Lexa roll her eyes,

“Proceed Mr Green, starting Drift, stage one now,” she reached forward to the control panel, knowing that Clarke mirrored her motions as they hit the big red button in unison.

The pull of the Drift was instant. Lexa's mind felt like it was twisting through a wormhole, flashing past memories and past events of her life, she cruised over the waves of her life, letting each thing wash over her.

_“Costia! Costia stop it! I have a final to get to!” Lexa shrieked as Costia's fingers jumped down her sides, shoving her t-shirt up and brushing her bare skin._

_“They'll wait for you, don't worry, I'll wait for you,” Costia's face molded and changed. Became rugged and male, with soft blue eyes and a warm smile._

_Jake Griffin._

_He smiled at Lexa, reaching forward to ruffle her hair and tuck it behind her ears, “I'll always be waiting Clarke,” it was Clarke's memory, not hers but it felt so good. Warm. Familiar. Jake had a warm smile that made Lexa's chest swell and burst with happiness. Dad was proud of her. Dad wanted to see her in the Academy. Graduate as a Ranger and fight along side of him. Then there was a casket, open lid. Jake in Marshall uniform, his face burned and scarred, hands littered with Drive Suit marks. He was dead. He didn't wait for me. He couldn't wait. But his proud smile was there._

No, no that wasn't her memory. Lexa shook her head, pushing through Clarke's past, Clarke's memories. She had to focus, she had to make the rookie focus,

“Don't chase it Clarke, flow through,” Lexa said loudly, knowing the blonde could hear her through the comm-link.

_“Lexa, oh Lexa! Come on, it's time to rock and roll!” Costia's face swam into view again. They were in the Conn-pod. Heda's old Conn-pod. Costia was to her left, her face twisted in pain. She was screaming, her hands jogging up and around, controlling the plasma rifle, emptying the clip. Before them was the monster. The destroyer, slamming its tentacles into their sides, over and over. Ripping away at steel and armour._

_“_ LEXA!” Clarke screamed as memories of her father washed away, settling in the back of her mind. He waited for her, in the Drift. But Lexa was gone, Lexa's memories swarmed Clarke's mind. She was chasing the rabbit.

_It was too late. Costia was gone. Lexa had both arms under control, gripping hard onto both hemisphere of Heda's controls. Her hands had gone numb from holding onto the controls, her throat hoarse from screaming. The burn down her body was too much, her skin was scorched. She was reloading the Canon. But there was nothing left. Lexa's mind was a whirl. She had to blow the reactor._

Clarke stared on horror as Lexa's hand reached to the control panel, hitting the over ride buttons to the reactor beneath them. Her mind raced, she could feel the heat coming up around her feet. Lexa had already activated the plasma cannon on her right arm and now the chain whip on Clarke's left. The blonde thought fast, her own hands reaching forward to counteract the Marshalls actions. Reaching for her one option.

_Lexa roared loudly, she had to save Costia. She could still hear her screams in her mind. She was still alive. She was going to save her and honour her. She was going to blow the fucking Kaiju up and be with Costia forever. The reactor was the only way, the only chance._

“No, no, no. Come on. Damn it!” Clarke roared as she slapped her palm flat against the blue button. The one labeled **EJECT.** Clarke already knew what kind of scolding she was going to get, but cutting Lexa off, getting her away would stop it all. As the ejection process began, Lexa was roaring in her suit, her screams of pain and frustration echoing around Clarke's helmet as her body became horizontal and moved upwards.

Clarke quickly set about shutting down the Jaeger, she wouldn't be able to hold it by herself, not yet. Heda groaned and roared as the life drained away from her reactor. Clarke sighed with relief as the Jaeger fell silent under her hands, the gyrosphere settling as Clarke sagged back on the machine,

“Fucking hell,” she sighed, relief washing over her as she watched Lexa's escape pod float down in front of Heda's main window. A very angry looking Marshal swearing at her from inside.


	7. Chapter 7

“Reckless! Completely irresponsible and out of line! Did you even take into consideration how many protocols you broke? Do you even realise what could have happened? You ejected me from my own Jaeger!” Lexa was shaking with rage, with pure anger as she turned to face the young Ranger. Clarke had been silent for a long time, she'd stood like a silent vigil, still in her Drive Suit, the midnight blue helmet tucked under her arm while her golden hair was plastered to her forehead from sweat. Unlike the Marshall who'd been stripped from her drive suit as fast as Anya could once the escape pod had landed. She stood in what Lexa could only describe as scruffy wear, a grey tracksuits with the Ranger Corps logo emblazoned across the breast. 

 

She felt uncomfortable, more so than she usually did in that stuff navy suit. She'd missed her Drive Suit, missed how it felt like a second skin, how it felt like home. And she'd fucked up the first time she'd been back there. Lexa had let off every ounce of anger and frustration at the Cadet, shouting till her throat hurt. But the frustration wasn't all at Clarke, no, it was mostly at herself. 

 

It was not much over an hour after Clarke had ejected her from Heda, and Lexa knew deep, deep down, that she'd done it for good reason. But it had still broken protocol. The LOCCET could have shut down the Jaeger easily, but the newly promoted Ranger had gone off instinct. And Lexa knew exactly how that felt and worked. With a shuddering breath, Lexa finally met Clarke's eyes, those brilliantly blue eyes that seemed to look right into her soul,

 

“Do you have anything to say Ranger?”

 

“I acted on my instincts. You had the plasma cannon all ready to empty a full clip into the LOCCET without thinking twice! You're supposed to be the commanding officer, the damn Marshall, and you chased the rabbit! You chased the fucking rabbit Lexa!” Clarke snapped, her gloved hands gripping the edge of her helmet tightly. Lexa watched as the blonde's brow furrowed hard, her words staying strong, yet filled with anger. Clarke's chest was puffed forward, her chin high, like she was born to wear the suit. Lexa knew she was right, she was in charge, the Marshall of Polis Shatterdome. And she chased the Drift rabbit like a rookie at the Academy.

 

“You felt it, and I damn well did too. But you still chased,” Clarke continued, setting down her helmet on the desk that sat between the two of them. Lexa's shoulders stiffened then, she knew exactly what Clarke was referring to. Their drift, how strong it was, how easily their memories flowed into one. Lexa had felt like Jake Griffin was her father, like she'd been his daughter wanting to do right by him, make him proud. The Marshall had no doubt that Clarke too felt like Costia was her first love, that she'd felt the pain that Lexa had chased. It was an amazing feat that the rookie Ranger had pulled away from such a strong chase and managed to she down the Jaeger by herself. Even if the mech hadn't been in full combat mode, she'd pulled it together and shut down Heda by herself,

 

“So what? Am I dismissed? Discharged from action even though you and I both know I probably saved each and everyone of the personnel in this ‘dome?” Clarke practically spat the words, her frustration and anger seeping into each syllable she spoke. Lexa sighed, rubbing at her temples harshly. The Marshall knew that outside of the locked office just off the side of the LOCCET control every member of the Shatterdome was listening. She knew that Anya, Raven and most likely Chief Medic Abby all had their ears pressed to the door. Along with every Jaeger team and their crews too. She couldn't let Clarke walk out into that,

 

“No Ranger. No dismissal, no discharging. You did what any seasoned Ranger would do, acted on instinct not protocol. And I appreciate your quick thinking for my life and everyone in the ‘dome,” Clarke gave a curt nod then, seemingly happy with the Marshall's words. The Ranger grabbed for her helmet, but Lexa's long finger hand atop it stopped her, “I would appreciate your silent on what you saw and felt though, Ranger...Clarke, the news may have portrayed the loss of Ranger Green in a devastating manner, but it was far worse to me then it was to the world,” 

 

Clarke rolled her eyes up to meet Lexa's once more, a look of pure understanding shining back at the Marshall. She nodded again, silently,

 

“I understand Marshall, completely. I've never felt anything like that before, like, ever. I can't imagine the love you shared with Ranger Green,” for the first time ever Lexa heard the softness, the sorrow in Clarke's tone. One that Lexa knew the Ranger truly felt. She'd seen it, been there in the memory of Jake's funeral, she'd never attended in real life, having been on duty, but their loss in life was a deep parallel,

 

“Hopefully you never will Clarke,” Lexa murmured, removing her hand from the Drift helmet, turning her back to the blonde as she gazed out of the office window to the now dormant form of Heda,

 

“You can't promise your immortality Lexa,” Clarke laughed shallowly. Lexa turned to shoot back a quick remark, but found Clarke leaving the office quickly, the many looming faces of the ‘dome staff staring in. Lexa sighed and rolled her eyes as Anya slipped inside with a snap of the door behind her.

  
  


* * *

 

 

“that sounded pretty intense!” Raven laughed as she slip up besides her adoptive sister. Clarke grunted in reply, her gloved hand trying to prize her arms free of the drive suit. Raven watched for a minute before sighing and rolling her eyes, “You're gonna break it, here, let me,” the mechanic quickly began to detach the suit from the impatient Ranger. Clarke was unnaturally silent, letting the elder girl work away, “So….are you dismissed?”

 

“No. The Marshall commended me on my quick thinking and instincts,” Clarke replied shortly. Raven hummed in reply, carefully detaching the spinal column and setting it aside. Next she worked free the little black box from the base of Clarke's neck. The rest of the suit came away easily then, the main attachment to Clarke's nervous system now gone. Raven didn't need to help much then as Clarke removed her breast plate and lower half, kicking the rest heavy suit away from her body till she could strip out of the circuit suit below. It didn't take long for Clarke to shed the skin tight lycra suit to stand before Raven in her underwear, skin glistening with sweat. Her skin glistened in the fluorescent lighting, but what stood out to Raven the most was the tiny red raw patch on Clarke's left hand shoulder. The mechanic knew that Mark, every drive suit tech and mechanic had been taught what that meant.

 

“Clarke...how badly did The Marshall chase the rabbit?” Raven asked sheepishly, inching towards her sister. The blonde shot Raven a look, she hadn't said a word about the Drift. She'd promised Lexa she wouldn't, how could the mechanic know? The Rangers mind swirled with questions, with confusion till she realised there was only one way she'd know. Gingerly Clarke reached to her shoulder, her left shoulder, remembering that she'd grabbed Lexa's controls when the Marshall had gone chasing. Clarke could feel the raised part of her skin, tracing the lines that had burnt there from the circuit suit. 

 

It was only small, nothing to even brag about, but it was there. A lasting mark, a reminder of that dangers being a Ranger still had, even when not in full combat. Raven reached forward, then hesitated as she watched Clarke's face drop, knowing full well she was reminded of the same scars her father had carried before he died. 

 

“Medal of honor, right? That's what Dad...That's what dad always said,” Clarke muttered low, retracting her hand from the fresh mark, “I'm going to hit the showers, before anything else fucks up,” the blonde grumbled, heading to the far side of the suit room. Raven watched with sad eyes as her sister disappeared from view, heading to the Ranger shower block. The mechanic set about collecting Clarke's discarded Drive Suit armour and circuit undersuit, carefully replacing them onto one of the manikins that lined the circular rooms walls. Raven couldn't help but admire the other suits within the room, from the Pauna Rangers grey and black camo armour, to the first green of Trikru. Then came the Natblinda armour, so similar to Marshall Woods’s own Range gear, that Raven wasn't sure at first. As black as the night, with stripes of red and white running down the sides and across the breast plates, the symbols of Natblinda was emulated largely on the front. A phoenix, painted in white. 

 

Raven knew all the Jaegers had their own symbols, Natblinda had the phoenix, Trikru was a biohazard symbol of orange and red and even Pauna, with her old Rangers, still had a hulking gorilla as it's mascot. Raven knee Heda used to be the flame sword in the night, painted red across the Jaegers chest plate, they called it The Commanders sigil, and everyone knew they were safe when they saw that come onto their holo-screens. When the KEAS played everyone knew Heda was there. It was all part of their rock star lives, and the council's original plan to get the public behind the Jaeger programme. Have a mascot, have the public cheer for something, to worship false metal gods as they protected you from the sea monsters. Raven couldn't help but smirk, it was so silly, treating these people, these Rangers, who were just as broken as anyone else in the world, like they were superstars. Crazy even.

 

But as the young mechanic hung Clarke's Drive Suit besides the Marshall’s, she couldn't help but wonder, what mascot would Heda have now? 

 

* * *

 

  
  


The hot water was like a scorching cleanse against Clarke's skin. It was a God send, the hot shower closed off away from the rest of the ‘dome. It may have been a communal shower room, but she was alone. And Clarke was revealing in it. Alone in a room with a hot shower and so much space to breath.

 

She'd never imagined how difficult it would be to breath in that damn suit. She'd waited so long to put it on, to feel what her father had done, to slip into a strong drift, that Clarke hadn't even thought about how tight and constricted it would be. She'd felt like she could breath, like she was suffocating until the Marshall had begun to run. Then it all came like second nature. She had to pull the Marshall out of the rabbit hole and make sure the Canon didn't go off. She hadn't even considered the aftermath, of what could have happened to her position, she just thought about saving everyone in the ‘dome.

 

Bracing her hands against the tiled walls, Clarke dipped her head flush under the hot water, letting herself be lost in the constant sound of the water flow. Everything became an echo in her mind as the water flowed around her, her mind flashing through the memories from the Drift. Of her own life experiences and what she'd felt from the Marshall. The deepest most hidden memories the Marshall had buried within her. And Clarke had been privy to them all.

 

The blonde sucked in a breath as she remembered the pain and sorrow that had come before Lexa had fell down the hole, chasing after a Ranger who'd been dead for years. 

 

Clarke's fists found the tiles harshly as she grunted in pain. She was angry, frustrated and confused. She was the one who was supposed to fuck up, she was the one who was meant to chase the rabbit. Not the stone cold Marshall, the damn Commander. She punched again, and again, and again roaring loudly as she did,

 

“Ranger?” Clarke's body stilled as the familiar voice floated into the shower room. 

 

_ Lexa, fuck,  _ she thought, pressing her forehead to the chilled tiles. Clenching her eyes shut, Clarke hoped her mind was still fogged from the Drift, that she was just imagining the Marshall's voice,

 

“Clarke, look, I'm sorry about the Drift. I..it was all my fault, I made a rookie move and tried to blame you, I'm...I'm…” 

 

“You're sorry, okay, it's cool Marshall. Happens to the best of us. Clearly,” Clarke grumbled, she wasn't going to turn around, she wasn't going to face the Marshall. She just wanted to stand there, with what was left of the hot water and forget about the failed drift. 

 

“can I get in here? Any hot water left?” Lexa was still there, still talking. Clarke could only muster a grunt in reply, the blonde decided she'd leave before the Marshall could get another word in. She'd pushed away from the wall, her hand going for the shower switch, when those fingers slid against her shoulder, against the Drive Suit burn. She flinched away, turning her body instinctively to put the injury away from Lexa's hand. Which only led her to face the Marshall, the very, very naked Marshall.

 

They stared at one another. The only sounds coming from the still going shower. Clarke was determined not to be the first to break the stare, she wouldn't look down at the Marshalls body first, she wouldn't, she...she did. The Ranger was drinking in the muscled, lithe form of her commanding officer with hungry eyes. From the curve of her perky breasts to the flat plains of her sculpted abs, the trimmed dark patch between her legs and then those legs, long and muscular, running all the way down. Clarke's bring at caught, goosebumps tickled her skin as she realised she wasn't the only one starring. Her cerulean eyes flicked back up to Lexa's face, her cheeks picked as watched Lexa bite her bottom lip,

 

“ _ Fuck.” _


	8. Chapter 8

Ranger Clarke Griffin sucked in a deep breath, counted to five then let it all out again. She tried to look anywhere but in front of her, tried to think about anything but who was in front of her,

“Is there a problem Ranger?” Marshall Lexa Woods asked, her tone playful, like she knew exactly what she was doing to the young Jaeger Ranger. Clarke was completely aware of how naked the Marshall was, and how much she really, really wanted to take another long look at her frame, but she knew she couldn't. She'd broken enough protocols that day. Clarke coughed loudly, turning abruptly on her heal as Lexa turned and dipped under the still running water from Clarke's original shower, giving Clarke just enough time to see that perfectly peach ass,

“No, no Marshall. I just have to - I mean, I need to-”

“Leaving so soon? Take advantage of the water, I know it's in short supply in the dorm areas,” Lexa continued to talk as Clarke shuffled back towards the door,

“No, no its cool. I've had my fill, thanks Marshall, thanks,” Clarke fumbled at the sliding door, realising as it slid open that she was still naked as the day she was born. By now the Ranger was pretty sure she was supporting a full bodied blush,

“Towels are on the rail, to the left,” Lexa called out, drawing Clarke's eyes back to her naked form. Her eyes were closed, back arched as water sprayed down the front of her body. Clarke swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly very dry. If it had been any other time, any other person, she would have confidently sauntered over to the naked woman, wrapped herself around her and kissed her exposed skin. She would have slid her hands over Lexa's soapy form, found her most intimate places and showed her how skilled she was in other areas.

But Lexa Woods was her commanding officer, and she was a barely experience Ranger, now matter what kind of relationship the Marshall had had with her previous Drift partner, Clarke wasn't about to risk that. Not over a heated crush. With one more muttered thanks, the Ranger grabbed a towel and headed for safety, away from naked women and the imposing doom of embarrassment.

 

* * *

 

 

It took only two days for the next Kaiju event to happen. The Shatterdome had been in a silent stalemate, waiting for the occurrence. The huge war clock loomed over every member of the team, sitting just below the LOCCET room, watching the main floor of the Shatterdome. Ticking upwards slowly, as of daring the Azgeda rift to open up and spill out its deadliest beasts. The LOCCET controllers had taken to betting when the next attack would happen, the Jaeger crews marking down the days on the feet of their Mechs, and the Marshall silently pacing her office till the shrill alarm went off.

Lexa had planned to contact her newest Ranger, set another Drift test into motion, but she found herself tormented by what could be revealed if she did so. Clarke had clearly been avoiding her, she knew that much. Since her foolhardy display in the Rangers shower block, Lexa had thought it may have broken the ice between them. Taking such a confident step into those waters had been wrong, if anything it had made Clarke draw away more, be ever the professional, curt and to the book. Much unlike the young Cadet who had first arrive at the ‘dome not six months prior.

Lexa knew their next Drift would reveal more than she probably should do in such a vulnerable position. Ranger Griffin may have seen her deepest, most shielded memories, but for the blonde to delve unwillingly into her lustful side would be more than unmanageable. But Lexa had seen Clarke blush, seen her fumble when she looked over her body, surely she could maybe just feel the same? Lexa shook her head, her chest suddenly feeling heavy as the newest wave of coughs took hold of her.

The Kaiju siren already blared, and of course now was the time her body decided to betray her. She found her arm chair, collapsing into it as she coughed hard, her fingers and palms flecking with black blood as the comp of running boots rounded into Lexa's private quarters.

“Marshall!” it was Clarke who called out to her, skidding to a halt before Lexa, her chest heaving in a pant, her navy jacket open just enough for kexa to catch sight of the young Rangers bosom,

“Cl..clarke?” Lexa wheezed, forcing herself to sit upwards,

“LOCCET are waiting for you. Anya, she said to come find you, get the orders for attack,” Clarke spoke softly, she was clearly assessing the situation she'd run into. Who wouldn't when they find their commanding officer hunched over, coughing up radiation poisoned blood. Lexa sighed, pushing herself shakily to her feet, “I didn't know...does anyone know?” Clarke asked meekly, eyeing Lexa's bloodied hands,

“The right people do. Ranger, time to focus, radio Miss Reyes, have Heda primed and ready to go,”

“But-”

“No time like the present to give it another shot Ranger,” Lexa gave a weak wink upward Clarke. Which only put a pink flush to the Rangers cheeks. They moved in silence towards the LOCCET command deck, Clarke ever ready to catch her Marshall if she wobbled or fell, but Lexa was a proud, determined, extremely stubborn woman who wouldn't have a rookie Ranger, and her crush, see her falter.

By the time they'd reached the LOCCET it was brimming with activity, people shouting out instructions, calling for data from other stations. Through the huge glass windows Trikru and Pauna was primed to go, choppers high above them connecting the carry lines to take them to the 10 mile miracle line.

“Marshall! Oh thank God, we've been -”

“No time Blake, Mr Green, give me the stats, what are we facing?” Lexa cut Bellamy short as he reached her side, Clarke eyed him carefully as she strode past, still at Lexa's aide. His face was flushed, tied loosened under his pressed blue blazer. He looked frantic, quickly following the two women,

“No, Marshall, I need to speak with you,”

“Mr Blake, it can wait,” Lexa snapped as she reached Monty, who looked fearful as she did, “Talk to me Mr Green,” the Marshall commanded and he nodded quickly,

“Two class four's M’am. Code name ThunderBack and Striker. They breached an hour ago, but they haven't moved from the rift. Just swimming back and forth, over and over,” Monty murmured, tapping away at his Holo-screen to show the Marshall the stats. The screens flicked blue and red, with two little green dots circling the line that symbolised the Azgeda rift.  Lexa frowned hard, watching the two Kaiju hold their positions,

“That's...strange, right? They usually swim inland by the hour mark. What's going on?” Clarke jumped in quickly, reaching forward to tap the green Kaiju dots on the screen. Monty made a sound of protest, slapping her hand away,

“There's nothing wrong with my equipment Ranger!” the LOCCET controller cried out, Clarke grinned and wiggled her tongue at him, turning her eyes to the Marshall. Lexa was frowning hard, her eyes flicking from the primed Jaegers to the screen before her, she was calculating a plan. Something, anything.

“Marshall! This matter is urgent!” Bellamy cried out, finally lulling Lexa's attention to him,

“What the hell Mr Blake? What is so damn urgent that it overshadows a breach?” Lexa snapped, turning on her heel to face Bellamy and the over shadowing form of Councillor Jaha,

“Marshall,” the tall, dark figure practically grunted at Lexa. The Marshall gaped, taken back by the sudden appearance of the tall man. He looked stern, angry and powerful. Dressed in a finely pressed black suit, the breast adorned with rank stripes, a stark white shirt and black tie tucked beneath. But his expression, his expression wa some that Clarke probably knew more than Lexa ever did. It was some that Abby often shared with her daughter, one that was a mixture of disappointment and anger,

“Councilman Jaha, what a pleasure to see you in person,” Lexa practically growled through gritted teeth, “You're just in time for the big show,”

“I believe I'm just in time to stop you from doing something foolhardy Marshall,” Jaha’s tone was curt yet sliced like a knife.

“Marshall, as I was telling you earlier, Councilman Jaha has decided to visits the Shatterdome, before its closure at the end of the week,” Bellman jumped in, going Lexa a pointed look. The Marshall started from Bellamy to Jaha, then nodded quickly,

“Ah yes, of course. If you'd like to step into my office Councilman, we can discuss -”

“There is nothing my more to discuss Marshall, it's time to shut it down. The wall is complete, it's time to let go.”

 

* * *

 

 

“So this is it huh?” Raven sighed heavily, shoving another Shatterdome emblazoned hooded jumped Dinton her duffle bag. Clarke grunted from her bunk. 48 hours had passed since Jaha made it publicly known that he was shutting down Polis Shatterdome. Personnel were clearing out left and right, grabbing their severance checks or reporting to the wall for work. The ‘dome was down to a near skeleton crew which consisted mostly of the Jaeger crews. The ones who refused to give in or up. Marshal Woods had been holed up in her private quarters for nearly the entire time since Jaha made his statement.

The Councilman had dismissed her within minutes, sent Trikru and Pauna back to their docking bays and closed the doors of the Shatterdome. There had been uproar, with two class four Kaiju still swimming in open waters, the human race was left near defenseless. But Jaha had held steady.

The LOCCET was still active, watching ThunderBack and Striker still circle the rift, never moving more than three miles away from it, then returning. To every member left in the ‘dome this was highly unusual. And worrying. What were they waiting for? And how long would it last? 


End file.
